Negotiation is a push and pull process with multiple decision makers, multiple points to negotiate with highs and lows in the emotions of the parties and the key is never to lose sight of the objective without being distracted by the emotional.
Two extreme negotiations we define here as robust and endless marathon negotiations.
Figure 1
Chamoun® Endless Marathon vs Robust Trading Concepts.
This figure represents the life cycle of a business based on customer visits
X's axis: (Start (I), Prospecting (P), Presentation (P), Proposals (P), Contract (C), Business closing (CN), Implementation (I).
Axis of the Y's: Visits to clients (Vo to Vn)
Robust negotiations are characterized by effective visits to clients, firm and concrete steps towards closing, clear objectives, transparent and crystalline vision. This negotiation consists of a series of short negotiations linked to each other (N1, N2,… NN) that may or may not be sequential and generally add value to each other.
Marathon negotiations on the contrary consist of many short or long negotiations (N1, N2… NN) that do not add value to each other. They are generally linked through antagonistic bargaining leagues. We are barely seeing any progress in the negotiation when some of the push and pull returns us to the beginning of the process. In fact, an antagonistic negotiation between a husband and his wife can also destroy the negotiation with a third party (the seller), as would be the case of the sale of a car where the third party must often start all over again. Or in how many negotiations with different cultures, for not knowing the cultural differences, the other culture is offended and this destroys the league and therefore what is built in the negotiation process.
When the negotiation process is marathon, the parties end up exhausted, worn out by the process, as in a tournament. The danger is that, despite everything, an end will not be reached and that is why we call them endless marathon negotiations.
The key in our businesses as in our lives is that we continually seek to obtain robust negotiations.
Let's not waste time, let's fix our minds on the goal and we will both reach the goal faster. The question is then how can we obtain or increase robust negotiations in our lives and how to avoid endless marathon runs.
The answer is planning, preparation and reflection. Without planning, the power of negotiation is limited and the result will be an endless marathon negotiation or a bloody negotiation. The intention is to minimize the number of visits to clients (Vo to Vn) and reach the closing of the CN business (see Figure 1)
The lines that distinguish a robust negotiation from a marathon are goal lines (L1, L2,.. Ln). The lines of objectives of the robust relationships have a lower slope indicating that in a smaller number of visits to clients (V0… Vn) one arrives from the beginning I, to the closing and implementation of the business (CN, I) See figure 1
Negotiations N1 to NN depend on many factors that can be observed independently of the negotiation process. For example, if we have a well-defined objective before entering the client's visit and the exit objective, we will most likely approach the next step before the closing, if not, we will either move away or leave this particular negotiation.
These N1 to NN negotiations depend on the number of participants, the league between them, alliances, communication styles, culture, gender, etc.
Before starting, it is advisable in any negotiation to keep in mind the scope, cost and time in which we want to do the work or life projects. If we can show this on a graph it would look like the triangle in figure 2.
Figure 2
Chamoun® Endless Marathon vs Robust Trading Concepts
This figure represents the triangle or cake that needs to be increased rather than divided between the parts. The points of the triangle represent positions of A: Range, T: Time, and $ of budget with quality ø
This figure shows us at each point of the triangle the cost, time and scope of our work in question with a specific quality f.
In any negotiation, the parties try to get a little more from each of these three positions (time, cost and scope). But if we work cooperatively and not competitively instead of dividing the triangle between the parties, we can increase it as seen in Figure 3 and both parties win.
Figure 3
Chamoun® Endless Marathon vs Robust Trading Concepts.
This figure represents the life cycle of a business based on customer visits
X's axis: (Start (I), Prospecting (P), Presentation (P), Proposals (P), Contract (C), Business closing (CN), Implementation (I). Y's axis: Visits to clients (Vo to Vn) and the changes in value from the beginning to the end of the negotiation represented by the triangles
The tools that are proposed in Dr. Chamoun's Business Development book to get to consistently obtain robust negotiations and increase the triangle or pie instead of dividing it between the parties are the CHAMOUN Sales Methodology, Strategic Planning, Proposals and Successful Presentations, Skills and knowledge of the art and science of negotiation.
Learn to go beyond negotiation skills and be consistently successful when closing personal or business deals.
Don't leave value on the negotiating table, learn to take it with you!
