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If you’re running a business, chances are you are going to spend a lot of time negotiating.
Whether it’s with suppliers, sellers, employees or investors, it’s going to be a skill you need to get good at – and fast!
A good negotiator knows how to leverage assets, build relationships and use lateral thinking to come up with mutually beneficial ideas. They know when to go in harder or walk away – all skills that aren’t necessarily taught, but important to learn.
What Are Some Key Negotiation Tactics?
If you look at expert negotiators, most of them will come to the table with some sort of tactic. Common strategies include things like:
- Using silence to put pressure on the other party to agree.
- Putting quick deadlines on the process, or threatening to walk away.
- Using ultimatums – ie either take my offer or leave it.
- Play good cop/bad cop with another person, making the person negotiating with you feel like they have someone on-side, even if this isn’t the case.
- Starting with a very low offer to make your actual one seem much better.
- Offering to meet in the middle – even if this is the number you had in mind all along.
Luckily, when it comes to the art of negotiation, a number of business people have put pen to paper to help you understand how to master it. Some of our favourites include:
Getting to Yes
Getting to Yes is all about that – getting to a point where both parties say yes! As one of the most famous books on the topics, it talks about 3 key principles for negotiation including: don’t bargain over positions, separate people and problem and use objective criteria.
By making the process simple, it has helped millions more people get to yes.
Buy the book here
Start with No
This book talks about how the idea of ‘win-win’ should be put aside when it comes to negotiation and actually how you should always start with no.
This helps reframe the process, allowing founders to negotiate better under pressure using tactics that work.
Buy the book here
More from Business
The Art of Negotiation
This book is all about learning the art of negotiation, so you can apply it to every part of your life.
Great for founders in their business life, but also good for those looking to negotiate in other areas, it teaches the importance of improvisation – helping you get what you want, even in unpredictable scenarios.
Buy the book here
Negotiation Genius
Written by two leaders at Harvard Business School, this book is all about using behavioural science to get what you want in negotiations.
Through practical tips, it teaches people things like how to know when to walk away, how to react to tactics being used on you and how to identify if the negotiation has no wiggle room.
Buy the book here
You Can Negotiate Anything
From the man who coined the term ‘win-win’ himself, Herb Cohen gives his readers tips for managing negotiations at all levels.
He talks about how to get what you want, no matter who you’re dealing with. This book is great for founders looking to learn from the best in the business.
Buy the book here
Getting Past No
If the other person is saying no, where do you go from there? In this book, William Ury of Harvard Law School talks about how to stay in control under pressure, allowing you to reduce hostility and bring the other side back to the table.
Buy the book here
Never Split The Difference
Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, takes readers inside how he managed high-stakes negotiations, using them to provide his own tips and tricks.
This book teaches founders how to gain leverage through emotional intelligence, listening and perceived empathy.
Buy the book here
