The Essentials of Effective Negotiation

A highly unique and practical programme specially designed to equip you with all the tools, strategies and techniques you need to become a confident and successful negotiator.

Course Overview

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This course can also be delivered in-house and tailored to meet the specific needs of your organisation. Click here for more information.

This specialised and detailed course has been carefully structured to provide you with a complete practical understanding in the mechanics of the negotiation process. This results focused programme incorporates the extensive use of “real world” examples combined with a unique “negotiators toolkit”. Also including comprehensive questionnaires and checklists that ensure that this course provides you with the perfect synergy between theory and practical applications.

WHY IS THIS COURSE UNIQUE?

Unlike conventional negotiation programmes, this unique course focuses purely on equipping you with practical tools and applications, not just theories. The techniques you will learn throughout the course have been utilised and tested extensively in the “real world” and could quite simply mean the difference between the success or failure of your performance in a negotiation. Exclusive to this programme is the dynamic “Negotiator’s Toolkit” an essential collection of tools and resources that will prove invaluable when preparing your negotiation strategy. All the practical exercises featured within the course are designed to give you hands-on experience. They are introduced in logical stages so that as the course unfolds, a process of progressive learning takes place as each practice session builds upon the previous one.

THIS COURSE WILL ENABLE YOU TO LEARN:

What type of negotiator you really are
How to assess the other party’s interests and objectives
Key techniques to establish who holds the position of power & influence
To identify your needs and that of the other parties with the ‘Two Way Needs Analysis’
How to position yourself so you have the upper hand in any given situation
The strengths of non-verbal communication, using body language to your advantage.
Strategies enabling you to conquer all team negotiation situations

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This course is designed for professionals with limited experience of negotiation who would dramatically benefit from a highly comprehensive and detailed grounding in the subject. It is therefore appropriate for people of all levels including both senior and junior professionals who feel they need to improve these particular skills. It would also be particularly useful for sales people who are looking to enhance their practical skills in the field of business negotiating.

Booking Information

To have a customised version of this course delivered In-House please call Tom Gooderham on +44 (0)20 7017 7195.

This course will be held on the above listed dates in central London. For more information about venue please click here.

Programme Details

"At last a practical course that teaches you the "real" secrets of power negotiating".

INTRODUCTION TO NEGOTIATION

What is negotiation?
When is it appropriate to negotiate?
Assessing your needs and their importance
Assessing the needs and their importance of the other party
The 5 possible negotiation positions from ‘lose/lose’ through to 'win/win'

GROUP EXERCISE: Discussing the pro’s and con’s of the above

IDENTIFYING YOUR PERSONAL NEGOTIATION STYLE AND THAT OF OTHERS

This session addresses the dynamics of the negotiation process and looks at the 5 key behavioural strategies that can take place during a negotiation.

Personal profile audit – a 30-point questionnaire
- identify your preferred negotiation style
- learn how to assess when it will be appropriate to apply the other styles.
Dealing with Conflict and difficult People
- understanding the conflict management matrix
When to use the 5 behavioural styles during a negotiation
What are the pro’s and con’s of each style

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Personal Negotiation Style Audit

UNIQUE SEVEN STAGE MODEL FOR SUCCESFUL NEGOTIATION

The essential ‘P.E.S.P.A.K.E.’ Negotiation Model

1. PREPERATION AND PROFILING: THE 2 KEY ELEMENTS OF PRE-NEGOTIATION

Preparation:

Timing of the negotiation
Perception of power
Developing an effective negotiation strategy
Identifying your ‘top end’ and ‘bottom line’ parameters – your ‘minimax’ criteria

Profiling the other party:

Their business needs – current and future
The people involved – SWOT Analysis
The individual:
- knowledge
- skills
- behaviour style
- decision maker or influence

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Preparation and profiling the other party

2. ENVIRONMENT & ATMOSPHERE

Assessing the importance of where the negotiation takes place (environment) and the type of atmosphere we want to create.

The pro’s and con’s of the environment
‘home’, ‘away’ or ‘neutral territory’
the do’s and don’ts.
Creating the right atmosphere to enable us to build rapport and set the scene for a productive outcome

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: What factors should we consider?

3. SHOPPING LIST & AGENDA

The crucial stage of setting and agreeing the agenda – the ‘shopping list’ to be negotiated.

Key techniques to ensure that we understand the other party’s needs
Dealing professionally with ‘early demands’ from the other party
Skilful ways of identifying any ‘hidden agenda’s’ that the other party may have.
The importance of using control skills, for example, summarising, to agree mutual goals and avoid misunderstandings

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Pairs practice

4. PROPOSE & TRADE

Moving into the act of negotiation – the main body.

The language of negotiation – the do’s and don’ts
Using the language of the expert negotiators - ‘conditional language’
The impact of negative language
Interpreting the other party’s statements – ‘the meaning behind the words’
How to start the ‘trading’ process
The art of trading concessions and following the golden rule – ‘ Never give – always trade’
How to receive proposals from the other party
How to state your position using the 4 stage ‘A.S.P.A.’ Model
Dealing with difficult requests in a controlled manner
How to say ‘NO’ without appearing negative

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Pairs and group practice

5. AGREE, SUMMARISE & CLOSE

The process of moving from trading to the final agreement stage.

Dealing with outstanding issues and how they can be resolved
Summarising agreements and obtaining commitment to proceed
Using the ‘backtrack’ technique to avoid making assumptions and deadlock
The importance of note taking and recording of agreements
Closing techniques to enable the negotiation to move forward

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Pairs and group practice

6. KEEPING TO COMMITMENTS, MAKING SURE IT ALL HAPPENS

Moving from negotiation to realisation

Establishing what has to happen to ensure that all agreements are actioned
Addressing the ‘Plan B’ effect: The ‘What if happens’ scenario – avoiding the common pitfalls
Considering the implications of legal, contractual and ‘small print’ items

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Addressing the above issues and their effects on the negotiation

7. EVALUATION & REVIEW

The importance of the post negotiation evaluation.

What did I/we learn from the negotiation?
How well did we perform?
How well did the other party negotiate?
How can we use the experience to develop our skills?

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Personal evaluation

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE POWER OF BODY LANGUAGE

How body talk can have a profound effect the negotiation process

How body language communicates more than you think
Reading the body language of others
Understanding and developing your own body language
The keys to using non-verbal communication to understand and influence others during negotiation

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Body Language Observation

THE ART OF TEAM NEGOTIATIONS

Difference between 1 to 1 negotiation and team negotiations
Individual roles within the team
Ensuring each team member has the essential negotiating attributes
How to use the individual attributes to your advantage
Strategies, techniques and tactics within the team negotiation process

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Using the ‘checklist’ to select your ideal team

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME NEGOTIATION PLOYS

Understanding the ploys used by the expert negotiators to give them the ‘ upper hand’.

Identify the common professional ‘ploys’
How to pre-empt them and build them into your strategy
How to deal with them effectively
How to ensure they do not affect the outcome

PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Practising dealing with ploys

ACTION PLAN: Develop a personal action plan to use when you go back to the workplace

Course Leader

John Alexander

During the past 28 years John Alexander’s career has been in sales and management where he has held senior positions within blue chip organisations in a number of industry sectors both within the UK and the Middle East. John brings a wealth of experience to the training environment. He has worked with people from board level to ‘front line’ level across a broad range of organisations within the private and public sector. He uses this experience to turn skills theory into real business applications that work. John is a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and is a Member of the Association for NLP. He is also a Member of the Association for Management Education and Development (AMED).