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2. How Will You Benefit?

IF YOU ARE going to be successful at getting your own way (that’s essentially where we are going here), you need to be clear about what you can get out of the whole process. It’s essential for both motivating and directing your efforts.

Save money

There are many ways to get yourself the right deal. It all depends what your needs are and finding out what is important to your supplier. By helping them you could, firstly, save yourself money.

Spending some time building a good relationship with your supplier is one key to this. Talk to them and find out when they need to complete their sales for the year. Do they have targets to hit? If you help them to get to the right number will they give you a good deal? Making a large order to get a volume discount is a classic variant of this.

You could also save yourself money by getting a supplier’s agreement to spread your payments, thus helping your cash flow and avoiding an overdraft.

Lastly, you could save by setting prices with your supplier for the next deal, when prices would otherwise rise.

Feel confident

Knowing how to negotiate also means a confidence boost. If you are well-prepared and have a set of rules to follow in striking deals, you will feel much more assured when you go into a meeting – even in a large boardroom on your own . . .

When you have achieved your goals, and both you and your clients are happy – that is a really good feeling! Closing a good deal, whether buying or selling, where everyone is happy makes life more pleasant. It feels good to do a good job.

Make friends

Effective negotiation means building, not burning, bridges. A definition of a good deal is when no one leaves the negotiations either feeling ripped-off or regretful in any way. Both parties need to feel like they could go through it again.

Building relationships with people gives you and your business security. You may even find more business by getting to know your customers and suppliers better. And by building on your relationships with suppliers you will get to know more about all aspects of your business and the chains that feed into it: this could help you run things more efficiently or spot the next big opportunity in your niche.

QUICK TIP: Make sure you send Christmas cards (or e-cards) to as many people in your supplier’s company as possible, including receptionists.

Gain respect

Learning to negotiate effectively is an opportunity to put some structure into your dealings if you have employees, or establish some steps for you to follow each time if you are a sole trader.

Here are some examples:

 decide how you will communicate (by phone, email or in person)

 draw up forms for your proposals and deal memos

 mark opportunities to send thank-you cards and gifts

 decide whether to be formal or relaxed in the way you communicate.

You can also define a company image – not in the design sense, but in the way you want to come across, and in your style and manner of dealing with other people.