Negotiation Strategy

Negotiation strategy is a topic that elicits enthusiastic debate in most forums. Most organisations and individuals approach negotiations in a manner that can be best described as ad hoc. Often times the "negotiation strategy" is discussed briefly in the car or on the train on the way to the meeting.

 

In the competitive environment that organisations and individuals find themselves in the present day, it is necessary to approach the topic of negotiation strategy far more seriously. Firstly, we should investigate our negotiation strategy at the highest level of abstraction i.e. at the corporate level. If we want to reduce variance in the way that we deal with customers, suppliers and other key stake holders it follows that we should define a negotiation strategy that sets a framework against which the organisation can measure itself. Any negotiation strategy should answer the questions why, what, who and how?

Examples of why may be because we have a need to increase the margins on new business or reduce the purchasing budget.

Examples of what may be that we will not extend discounts in excess of 10%, we will not make any concessions without a counter concession and so forth.

An example of who may be to ensure compliance to the strategy by all our customer/supplier facing teams.

Finally, an example of how may be that we will ensure a formal strategy is compiled, a process is derived from this strategy, and all our negotiators will be adequately trained & equipped with tools to ensure compliance.