Negotiation is one of a process in business. Many step by step to make their process of negotiation is successfully.
Some small timers in business often consider negotiation a dirty word. Asking for more, wanting to pay less and trying to ‘compete’ with the other side all feels wrong to so many small business people. Unfortunately, these are the same businesses that are more likely to be struggling as they get regularly outmanoeuvred by their more vicious competitors.
In the demanding world of business today, can you really afford to allow customers to slip through your fingers? Do you have to work twice as hard to earn the same amount as your competitors? With a couple of basic and relatively easily applied tactics, you can very quickly improve your negotiating skills, and get the upper hand when discussing a deal.
One of the first things that people are afraid of is the feeling of tension that competition brings. If you feel unnerved by the pressure and competitive edge the other party may have, there’s a very simple rule to apply: act dumb. This might seem somewhat bizarre, but it works. Let’s take the example of buying a used car. Often there can be a great deal of pressure from the salesman as he tries all the tricks in the book to close the sale.
One of the tactics some people try is to act smart, almost competing with the salesman on his own ground. By trying to outwit the salesman, you actually end up playing into his hands because the chances are high that he lives and dreams automobiles. He has probably already bought and sold more cars than you will in your entire lifetime! The salesman has all of the advantages it would seem, and so trying to act smart and compete with him on product knowledge is likely to end in failure!
So instead, act dumb and ask him to go over the figures again when he mentions the price. Ask him to explain the optional equipment again. ‘Sorry, I wonder if you could just tell me how the satellite navigation works?’ or ‘What exactly is dual fuel?’ Why would you act this way? Very simply, he won’t see you as competition.