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Negotiation Skills For Small Businesses

Where does negotiation apply in your small business? It can apply in almost any area and you need to sharpen your negotiation skills because they will be needed in critical areas like getting service level agreements with other companies.

Your negotiation skills will be needed when you want to do back-end business with other businesses. As a small business owner, you may be negotiating with companies that are probably more experienced in striking deals that are favorable to them and you do not want to get into something that will end up not serving your enterprise.

It is important to note here that you might consider bringing in professional negotiators who know what it takes to get favorable deals. They could come in at the consultancy level and assist you in negotiating deals that will be beneficial for your business. Negotiating with other companies can be tricky especially when they are bigger companies that seem to have the advantage of size and years of handling big business on their side.

Hiring a negotiator as a consultant or to be part of your negotiating team will plug in any deficiency on the part of your business.

1. Parleying With Staff

There are times when you need to get to the negotiation table with your staff. It may be over benefits or working conditions, but having great negotiation skills will help in making sure you come to an agreement that everyone will be happy to accept. Negotiating with your staff could be tricky, as you have to find the right balance when it comes to having your way and making your staffs feel they got something from the table.

SEE ALSO: Negotiating Tutorial For Beginners

This is a kind of negotiation that requires that the bridges are not set ablaze afterwards, because you will still be working with them.

2. Find Common Grounds With Competition

This is where your negotiation skills will come handy. Companies will always want to push for the things that will favor them the most. They wrap this up by making sure it favors others companies as well, so that they can get the support of a majority for them to push it through.

Negotiations like this may also involve you holding closed door meeting with one or two companies or finding those with similar interests like yours and coming together to push for a particular issue. The whole idea is to get the best out of that negotiation table.

This may be in form of what it will cost you to comply to an agreed module or standard. If you negotiate well enough, the standard agreed upon will be closer to what you already have in place or be such that it will not cost you so much to adopt.

3. Negotiating With Consumer Representatives

There are some levels of negotiation that will require you go with the full complement of a negotiation team, with respect to key members of your organization, as well as the legal representation. Negotiating with consumer representatives is one of those types of negotiations.

4. Negotiate With Regulators

This may happen when they want you to do something that is related to your business. Negotiating with regulators normally places you in a conciliatory position, since it is obvious they are also the ones that hold the bigger stick. In this type of negotiation, you should be prepared to be cooperative. Although they may allow you to have a little room to maneuver, it depends on what is at stake.

SEE ALSO: Understanding The Structure Of A Negotiation

It is a negotiation if they come to the table to propose some measures they want you to consider, although they might apply strong-arm tactics. The fact that they came to the table means you have something to say about the whole affair and this could be an opening for you.

It would be called a directive if they do not come to the table. That is, it would be a direct order to take an action without any recourse to what the consequence will be to your business. However, coming to the negotiation table indicates that you do have a say in what they are proposing and they are willing to let you have your say which could make you to have a little bit of your way.

There are various areas negotiation plays a pivotal role in your business and this should serve as a good case for you to develop your negotiation skills. Another thing is that it may be a reason to consider hiring a professional negotiator or retaining one if your business is in a phase where they will be doing a lot of negotiations.

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