Unit 44-LO1 Evaluate the context of negotiation and identify the information required to prepare for a negotiation-BTEC-HND-Level 4 & 5

Course: Pearson BTEC Levels 4 and 5 Higher Nationals in Business

Negotiations are a complicated process. It is important to plan for negotiations to be successful. First, evaluate the context in which negotiations will take place and then plan accordingly.

There are a lot of things to think about when you are negotiating. You need to know what you want, what the other person wants, and where you will be negotiating. You also need to know who else is in the negotiation, such as any third parties or those with veto power. Find out everything there is to know so that next time you can prepare before the negotiation starts.

Also Read: Manage documentation relevant to tenders and contracts

The context for negotiating:

Understanding the rationale for negotiation and the importance of negotiating skills in the workplace

It is important to understand the logic behind negotiation. Understanding it will help you in the workplace. Always remember what is going on around you when negotiating.

Negotiate most effectively by understanding what is negotiable, and using your skills correctly depending on the situation. Find out who’s in charge, and how they feel about negotiation before deciding whether to have a confrontation or not. Confrontation can work if it has an effective outcome that benefits everybody- not just one party who might lose another.

Generating new business and winning new deals

New business is critical for a company to survive. You can’t just wait for people to ask you about your business. You need to be proactive and convince them that you are the best person for the job.

Nine ways to win new business from a client’s perspective are:

1. Understand the company’s needs prioritizing them in order of importance.
2. Understand which departments make the purchasing decision and how they interact with each other this can impact your lead time. Share this information with external salespeople on day one so that they can start leveraging it immediately
3. Build up your credibility as quickly as possible, continuing to share updates about yourself throughout the early interactions stage with prospects until you build enough trust that buying from you becomes a matter of course, not something the client will question.
4. Make sure that your offering is relevant and appealing to what the prospect said they wanted to do or achieve.
5. If after making your offer, the prospects stills seem reluctant for whatever reason, present them with alternatives
6. Present other solutions that could be used in place of your offering, and if possible, indicate how they are better than yours.
7. Involve more than one person in the selling process to improve your chances of succeeding with a deal
8. Make sure your company is able to deliver on its promises before making them
9. Use external salespeople that have relationships with the decision-makers/buyers.

Key negotiation tactics and strategies

Key negotiation tactics are important. The key tactics include finding out what your counterpart’s priorities are, keeping emotions out of the negotiations, suggesting creative solutions and attractive options to help them concede first, asking “What would be fair?” as a way of starting a negotiation sentence so they might feel inclined to offer a concession and building value for your counterpart before making an aggressive sales pitch.

A negotiation strategy is about thinking ahead. You want to think about what kind of argument they will agree with or concede on and this will give you an advantage. But if there is not much room for negotiation on one issue, you can focus on another. How you approach the negotiation directly influences how your counterpart will do, and if they refuse to concede it might be because of a certain reason.

Preparing to negotiate: the Request For Proposal (RFP) process

In the Request For Proposal (RFP) process, there are 3 types of proposals: technical, “feel good”, and competitive bidding. Make sure to choose one type. If you do all three, it will be too expensive.

A budget for a job should be well thought out and planned. Find out what you can do to make the customer happy. If time is tight, rely on third parties only if they can deliver something that will meet requirements. Don’t accept bids with follow-up negotiations after awarding a contract because it takes time and resources and there is a risk of not getting the contract.

Preparing to negotiate: determining goals, tactics, and strategies

A goal is to figure out what you want. The tactics are the words and gestures that you will use when negotiating.

A strategy in a negotiation is the plan a person will use, or what they want to do. They might have plans about how much they will offer and who should be first in line for the deal. It is important to think about what goals you want and what level of impact you want to have.

For more information about negotiation, read the article entitled ‘Seven Negotiation Tips You Could Be Missing – Forbes’. It has a great list of tactics for negotiating.

Closing a deal: creating and finalizing a contract

Creating a contract can be hard to do on your own. You need to make sure that the contract is about something that you can control, like setting a price for your house and not other things such as when someone will buy it. If you use an attorney or create one yourself, they will help you with this part of the process.

You need to make sure you write everything down and understand it before you sign anything. That way, if something happens, both of you will be happy with the outcome.

The value of understanding the context and key individuals in a negotiation, including cultural awareness and differences in international business negotiations

Context and the person you are negotiating with are really important. Understanding their culture can help you get along better. Knowing that can help avoid arguments or disagreements.

Along with understanding the etiquette in other countries, it is also very important to take your time when you are negotiating. If there are misunderstandings, try not to rush and think about them as they happen because they will give you a better idea of how your counterpart thinks and operates.

It is also important to be aware of the time it takes to complete a negotiation when you are in different circumstances. For example, in America, we might want to finish quickly but that may not work well elsewhere.

Collapse and recovery when negotiating

Successful negotiators think about what would happen if they failed. If they don’t know, they ask someone else. They also ask themselves what would happen if their plan goes wrong and how to fix it.

A good negotiator knows when to press for concessions and when not to. They know what they are bargaining for, too.

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