Want results when you're bargaining? Settle your next contract, agree on your job description or land that elusive deal! What's the formula? Unmistakably, it’s Staying Positive! By using positive approaches, you bring Serotonin, a hormone of well-being to your negotiation table.
According to forthcoming research in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, positive and negative negotiating behaviors greatly influence your take-aways! For example, "managers are twice as likely to close a deal with opponents when friendly, cooperative, and empathetic in preference to aggressive and insistent behaviors" as Shirli Kopelman of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business along with colleagues, Ashleigh Shelby Rosette of Duke University and Leigh Thompson of Northwestern University, discovered.
How would you assess your current negotiation skills? When you approach a beehive, will you walk away with a honey comb or a bee sting? Interestingly, Kopelman discovered that “negotiators who strategically display positive rather than negative emotions are more likely to preserve valuable business relationships, gain concessions and persuade opposing parties to accept their offers, and thus, more frequently close deals.”
So, if you decide to stand firm on hiking your price on a computer programming contract and give potential clients a take-it-or-leave it ultimatum on price, how does that affect your outcome? Adversely! Kopelman concludes that managers, who take a hard line and a negative approach when they negotiate, are less likely to land the contract.
For example, participants in Kopelman’s study had the option of accepting or rejecting a wedding catering firm's price hike when no future business relationship was at stake and they could simply walk away from the negotiations and hire a different caterer. Significantly more opted to reject the deal. Further analysis shows that negotiators who viewed a video clip of this negative manager’s actions were “inclined to pay substantially less for the catering service, and this affected their receptivity to her offer.”
Similarly, "Negotiators responding to the positive display of emotion were nearly twice as likely to sign a deal," Kopelman said. "…positive emotional display may be more effective in achieving objectives, as well as retaining and embarking on a future business relationship."
So how exactly how do you take a positive approach at the bargaining table if you currently tend toward negativity? I’d suggest you start by distancing yourself from emotions!
To learn more positive strategies in negotiation, use approaches that bring Serotonin to the table by using Ellen Weber’s brain based tips :
Adopt Positive Self-Talk
Focus on Good Results
Adopt Neuron Pathways Beyond Blame
Grow New Smart Skills
My two-bits:
Ask clients thoughtful questions concentrating on their needs. More than likely this leads both parties to adjust prices for individual components, and you’ll find a win/win… And, on the other side of the table, clients may be surprised to see the “caterer” is willing to adjust and design a package which fits their needs and provides ease on the wallet.
Ensure the person at the other side of the table speaks more than you. People love to talk when they have a rapt audience. A little more listening and attentiveness could positively influence your bargaining.
Try these strategies... let me know your outcomes!
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