The Top 3 Negotiation Skills of Persuasive People

The Top 3 Negotiation Skills of Persuasive People

Some people are good at negotiating in their own interest, and some people are not. Which one of these types of people do you want to be?
One of your main jobs in life, one that will lead to increasing levels of self-confidence, is to become more effective in influencing others by learning great negotiation skills and choosing good questions to ask.
In the many studies that have been done on effective negotiators, we find that they all have basically the same qualities and characteristics.

Negotiation Skills are Learnable

Contrary to popular belief, top negotiators are not hard bargainers and tough-minded personalities. They are not aggressive and pushy and demanding. They do not coerce their negotiating partners into unsatisfactory agreements.
The best negotiators are invariably pleasant people. They are warm, friendly and low-keyed. They are likable and agreeable. They are the kind of people that you feel comfortable agreeing with. You have an almost automatic tendency to trust someone with great negotiation skills and to feel that what they are asking for is in the best interests of both parties.

The Top 3 Negotiation Skills

Skilled negotiators are usually quite concerned about finding a solution or an arrangement that is satisfactory to both parties. They look for what are called “win-win” situations, where both parties are happy with the results of the negotiation.
In negotiating of any kind of contract, whether buying or selling anything, there are some basic negotiating skills that you need to learn in order to get the best deal for yourself and to feel happy about the results.

1) Choose Good Questions to Ask

Good negotiators seem to ask a lot of questions and are very concerned about understanding exactly what it is you are trying to achieve from the negotiation.
For example, in buying a house, both parties might start off arguing and disagreeing over the price. They begin with the position that the price is the most important thing and that is all that has to be negotiated. The skilled negotiator, however, will realize that price is only one part of the package.
By using good negotiation skills, this negotiator will help both parties to see that the terms of the sale are also important, as are the furniture and fixtures that might be included in the transaction.
Finding good questions to ask about a customer’s needs is the only way you will be able to find out in a negotiation what exactly is important to them and what benefits they are truly looking for. Price is not always the most important thing in a sale and it is important to show the customer other benefits they are receiving.

2) Patience

Good negotiators are very patient. They concentrate first on getting agreement on all the parts of the contract that the two parties have in common before they go on seeking for amicable ways to settle the other issues.
They also take the time to prepare good questions to ask to get clarity and understanding on each point as they go along, so that there is no confusion later.

3) Preparation is Key

Preparation accounts for 90% of negotiating success. The more and better prepared you are prior to a negotiation, the more likely it is that the outcome of the negotiation will be satisfactory for all parties involved.
Preparation requires you do two things. First get all the information that you can about the upcoming negotiation. Second, think the negotiation through carefully, from beginning to end, and be fully prepared for any eventuality.
The first kind of information you need is about the product or service, and the person with whom you will be negotiating. You obtain this information by choosing good questions to ask that are well thought out. In this sense, information becomes a form of power, and the power is always on the side of the person with the best information.

Take Action and Gain Self-Confidence!

There is nothing that raises your self-confidence faster than to feel that you have been successful in negotiating a contract and that you have gotten a good deal as a result. And there is nothing that will lower your self-confidence faster than to think that you have been out-negotiated into a poor deal that you will have to live with. Therefore, negotiating skills are an important part of your personality development and of your sense of personal effectiveness and self-confidence.
When you are a good negotiator, your self-confidence is higher and you feel more positive toward yourself and others in everything else that you do.