It’s pleasing to see that it’s not just me extolling the virtues of negotiation, with entrepreneur and investor Steven Bartlett last week taking to social media to drive home the message.
What has ‘Steven Bartlett said about negotiation?
The Dragons’ Den star used his LinkedIn profile page to describe “Emotional Intelligence skills” like “negotiation” as “increasingly valuable.”
Professionally, I couldn’t agree more.
Although personally — full disclosure — the thought of negotiating terms, prices, or trying to secure agreement for that something special previously filled me with dread, writes Olivia Sear, head of legal and compliance at Meet Life Sciences.
What’s a common negotiating fear?
When facing a haggle, I usually had the tools and understood the methodology to negotiate terms, say, with clients. But the negotiation itself wasn’t something that came easily to me.
I felt a common fear when negotiating— that the other person was always better suited to the back-and-forth than I was. And often, had a better understanding of the issue or subject at hand.
How to regard negotiation?
To reassure you, over a 10-plus-year career in Legal and Compliance, I now see negotiation as less of a daunting task. It can even be an enjoyable one!
Negotiation is something I regard as more of a coveted skillset for any employer that I work for.
This way of regarding negotiation is especially applicable to those businesses where there are often regular and heavy negotiations to be completed, notably in the tech and life sciences sectors, where I have previously worked and now specialise in, respectively.
What are the four questions of negotiation?
As a non-lawyer, I have always come at negotiations from a commercial perspective. Unless you’ve got legal training under your belt, I recommend that you do the same.
To that end, there are four, if not five, questions with a commercial edge that I recommend asking yourself BEFORE entering a negotiation.
What are both parties wanting to get out of this discussion?
What is my end goal / what do I want to achieve?
How will my requirements affect the other party?
What, and more importantly, WHY are they likely to counteroffer?
This type of thinking works well — at least for me — as a starting point for any negotiation, commercial or otherwise.
When do you consider mindset in a negotiation?
Your four pre-negotiation questions asked and answered, it’s next time to consider the other party’s mindset.
Really try to get into the mind of the counterparty, and then try to understand whether your ask is going to be fair and balanced for all parties.
For example, ‘uncapped liability’ would be very nice for you and your camp, I’m sure! However, it’s often not practical for the party sitting opposite you at the negotiating table to just rubber-stamp such a big demand.
What’s key to negotiating successfully?
Therefore, there cannot (usually) be a (totally) one-sided obligation.
And that really is almost the case, no matter how much your sales team or CEO tells you it’s acceptable or “not risky” for the other camp to agree to ‘your’ terms.
The key to a negotiation is to try to make the other party understand why the negotiation cannot be one-sided.
How to use examples in a negotiation?
In a negotiation, I’ve found that the use and inclusion of real-world examples, or realistic scenarios to mitigate risk, for instance, is often helpful in getting the other party to understand your position.
So rather than redlining their proposal without any context, add your amendments and objectively but subtly state the reasons ‘why’ in the ‘Comments’ section.
Aim to put down in a MS Word document (which is typically accessible for all) a clear thought process for the other party to follow and digest.
What’s a top tip for a negotiation?
My most important tip for effective negotiation, based on my 10-plus years in Legal and Compliance, is to lean into the tête-à-tête.
So, pick up the phone, get on a Teams call, or book the date for a face-to-face at the VERY first opportunity you can (post-preparation), to actually ‘do’ the negotiation!
What are two benefits of beginning a negotiation swiftly?
First, you will find it less stressful than constantly thinking about the exchange, as you’ll get the negotiation ‘out of the way.’
The second key benefit of your swift action to begin negotiating early is effectively saying ‘No’ to overly exploring all the permutations.
Not that SOME exploring isn’t sensible!
What are three negotiation risks of conversational emails?
Second, in my experience of workplaces, many negotiations fail at the first hurdle due to ‘conversational’ emails sent back and forth, often with:
Not enough careful consideration of redlines,
Too many redlines, or/and
An excess of terms or/and red tape.
You’ll have your own example, I’m sure, of a conversation which was effectively a negotiation that got away from you, and went against you — possibly before you’d appreciated that the negotiation was actually underway!
Why else should emails be used sparingly when negotiating?
Limping into a ‘negotiation conversation’ via email, where you risk irking the other party straight away (sometimes due to the nature of email), is not a conducive way to do business. At any stage.
An initial use of email, intentionally sparingly and selectively, might be ok.
Perhaps you need to understand why they have set out specific clauses in their contracts, for example.
Are ‘Alternatives’ and ‘Options’ a good idea to mention in a negotiation?
But then prioritise getting to the one-on-one, ideally in-person, to discuss why the clauses, say, are unfavourable for your side.
Next, at the same face-to-face meeting, provide alternatives or options.
Using the ‘A-word’ or the ‘O-word,’ introduce potential compromises in other areas.
What’s a good compromise for you?
And a ‘good’ compromise for you means sacrificing a small something that might mean quite a big something, in value terms, to them.
Or how about a temporary ‘special discount’ if price is the sticking point?
Or an indemnity for those specific instances that they’re concerned about?
How often will your negotiations receive a positive response?
When negotiating in person, most of the time, you should receive a ‘human,’ positive response if you follow the above course of action.
And likewise in the majority of cases, unless you’re facing off against a particularly bullish client or stubborn individual, you’ll likely be met halfway, with an all-important COMPROMISE.
Is it easier to say ‘No’ in a negotiation from an inbox or face-to-face?
To reiterate, often email isn’t your friend if landing a deal or securing an agreement is your aim.
It is much easier for the party to say ‘no’ to a negotiation or proposal weighted in your favour via email, especially where there has been no chance to build rapport.
It is much harder for your opposite number to say ‘No’ when you are face-to-face with each other, particularly if beforehand you’ve added some ‘human’ elements into the conversation.
What’s an example of negotiation success?
I once had a negotiation where there was no choice but to have a phone call as ‘the decider.’
The call involved a client who had been INSISTING on uncapped liability for a particular provision.
Once we discussed it reasonably, with a realistic example I’d prepared and where I asked questions AROUND why uncapped liability was required, their position shifted. We both came out with favourable yet compromised terms that we were each happy with.
Is there value in talking and ‘walking through’ before a decision?
Eyeing a salary, better terms, or other contractual changes, I endorse actually TALKING (on the phone or in-person), before the other party decides.
When you need to win the argument, the straightforward activity of speaking and then ‘walking through’ it all with questions and examples from your side is too often missed.
How can an Internal Risk Matrix help you in negotiation?
As a legal and compliance adviser, I’ve found it also helps to have an Internal Risk Matrix (IRM) signed off at board-level. Such an IRM helps you to explain why certain terms are non-negotiable straight off the bat while providing you with extra confidence as to why you are making certain decisions.
An IRM also ensures that whoever is completing negotiations across the business follows the same stance as you, minimising the risk you’ll get caught out in your final stages of negotiation.
What about securing that special something in a negotiation?
We’ve all been brought into a conversation or pitch at the 11th hour, where that ‘special something’ has been promised to get the client or buyer through the door.
And suddenly, you get the pit-of-your-stomach feeling, because that ‘special something’ is simply not achievable!
That’s partly why the art of negotiation can feel so daunting.
How to stay calm and focused during a negotiation?
But to help you stay calm and focused, regard negotiation as a skillset that simply helps you or your employer to grow, build confidence and develop.
Relegate email; bring your questions around their position, ready your options, alternatives and realistic examples around your position. If you get onto a phone or video call, use a reassuring, reasonable but assured tone.
The takeaway
In today’s global turmoil amid technological change led by AI, I’m finding that always remaining human, with a commercially astute mindset, is an asset that resonates and refreshes. Negotiation can even become enjoyable, because you can potentially achieve goals, and not always just for you or your employer. Negotiation is ultimately a ‘people-first’ exercise, where you get to meet many new individuals and even learn from their negotiation skills, ultimately making you an even better negotiator.
This Moore News article, based on the exclusive comments of legal and compliance expert Olivia Sear, is an edited version of the original, created by Simon and supplied to Women In Tech.