Strategic Negotiation

This is a course I recently took on Lynda.com created by Mike Figliuolo. Make sure to check it out! Here's a few things that stood out to me from it.

When it comes to negotiations, it is a skill that many people are going to be using in their future careers. Being able to negotiate deals where everyone is leaving happy is definitely a challenge. Whether it is negotiating in meetings with co-workers, bosses or businesses it can be a major asset if you can bring others together and reconcile differences. Last summer I had the chance of negotiating contracts with suppliers and for being my first major negotiations, I felt they went well. The one thing that really stood out for me was that I was not as confident with the negotiation as I wanted to be.

This leads me into the incredible course that I recently took on Lynda.com. The course is called Strategic Negotiation and the author is Mike Figliuolo. The course teaches you a systematic way to approach and conduct negotiations effectively. For this post, I am going to talk about a few of the key points that really stood out to me. I suggest watching the full video because it is very helpful and informative. The three areas that I am going to cover are:

• The 4 Different Styles

• Techniques for Negotiating

• Common Mistakes to Avoid

The 4 Different Styles

Above is the table of the four different styles. This information stood out the most for me because when I approached my negotiations, I was not thinking of how I was going into it and the importance of the negotiation. Preparing and knowing the situation prior to negotiations is a key lesson I learned from this course.

The table is based on the importance of the relationship and the importance of the outcome. When going into negotiations, it is a good idea to know which approach you are wanting to take. “Split the pie” is finding the middle point where both of you are happy and moving on. “Serve the pie” is giving the other party what they want in the interest of maintaining or strengthening the relationship. “Take the pie” is extracting as much value from the deal as you possibly can and “Expand the pie” is creating additional value for the other party and searching for other opportunities to profit for both parties (Figliuolo, 2015).

Techniques for Negotiating

Check out these 6 amazing techniques that I learned from the course. I have had many of these negotiation techniques used against me before. Whether it is buying a car, or at work when someone needs to “clear it with their boss”, these techniques amazed me. How about you? Has any of these techniques been used against you?

1) The Invisible Man Technique - Negotiation using an additional real or imaginary authority - I need to check with my colleagues on this one

2) The Bogey Technique - Negotiation by acting like an unimportant detail is critical and then trading it away as a major concession later

3) The Nibble Technique - Asking for something extra, right before closing a deal

4) The High-Ball/Low-Ball Technique - Negotiation by offering an extraordinarily high or low value

5) The Future Value Technique - Negotiating using the promise of a future value to the other party

6) The Multiple Rounds Technique - Negotiation by forcing the other party to sit for multiple rounds of negotiations

(Figliuolo, 2015)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest mistakes when approaching a deal are not knowing the players or the process, not knowing what’s important, improper anchors and burning relationships.

• Not knowing the players or the process – this can cause you to give up more value then you should.

• Not knowing what’s important – know what you want and what they want from the deal.
  

• Improper anchors – speak first and set the anchor. The deal will be somewhere near that range.

• Burning relationships – compromise now to make the long-term deal.

(Figliuolo, 2015)

Final Thoughts?

With all of these tips and tricks that I have learned and common mistakes to avoid, I cannot wait to go into my next negotiation. I feel that I am a 100x more prepared and have sharpened an amazing skill for my future career. I cannot wait to put all of these techniques into action! Thank you to Mike Figliuolo the author for creating this video and thank you to Lynda.com for having this available to me.

Thank you all for reading! I don’t want to give away to much from the course because I feel it is definitely worth the watch. If you are interested in finding out more and touching up your negotiation skills, I suggest checking it out. https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Strategic-Negotiation/376381-2.html #ALWAYSLEARNING #WINTERWISDOM #LEARNINGWITHLYNDA

References:

Figliuolo, M. (2015, October 06). Strategic Negotiation. Retrieved from Lynda.com: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Strategic-Negotiation/376381-2.html