11/3/2023-Negotiating

You get what you deserve, but how do you know if what you get is valuable? That’s why all good negotiators start first with understanding how to be good evaluators.

In negotiations, your Plan B is what happens when you get punched in the face….

…not literally, of course.

Say you’re humming along in a negotiation, and suddenly it turns south.

What do you do?

You turn to your Plan B – your "BATNA," the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.

Your Plan B is the option that best meets your goals and that you will most likely take if your ideal outcome is unattainable.

Most of the time, negotiations don’t go according to plan, so a Plan B is essential to have in your back pocket.

Today, develop your Plan B for an upcoming negotiation. It’s good to get in this habit because, as Mick sings, "…ya can’t always get what ya want."

Don’t make your negotiation harder than it already is; follow these two tips to construct your Plan B:

1. What specifically is optimal that you want from the negotiation? List everything that would make you yell from the mountain if you got it. Let’s call that your Plan A…it’d be great to get it, but that doesn’t happen too frequently.

2. If you don’t get all you want in the negotiation, what would you accept? Be specific…write it down. That’s your Plan B.

Understanding value is the fundamental skill you should study to excel as a negotiator.

Start first by ensuring you understand the value of all your negotiable assets. This may be an impossible exercise without the help of your manager, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting the answers you need.

You will create a positive outcome for your negotiations when you understand the underlying value of what you are trading.

The tricky part of most negotiations is understanding the value of the items your negotiation opponent is trying to stuff down your throat. But because you’ll work hard to make your negotiation friendly and collaborative, you’ll have the space to ask the other party to explain the value. If they’re so adamant about including the item(s) in the deal, they’ll easily be able to help you understand the value.

After developing your Plan B, you’re ready for the next lesson on strong negotiating: listening.

Spend 13 minutes with William Ury in this fascinating Ted Talk, and you’ll get a new perspective on why listening is the key to your negotiating success.

Ury, the cofounder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, says, "My passion for the last thirty years is helping people get to yes in tough negotiations….and I hear a lot of talking, but I don’t hear a lot of real listening."

As one of the world’s most influential experts on negotiating, Ury shares great anecdotes that will fascinate you and prove how opening your ears is needed to support your Plan B!