【Business English】Negotiation: The One Skill Everyone Needs But Lacks
【Business English】Negotiation: The One Skill Everyone Needs But Lacks
In life, there will be innumerable situations where getting the best deal is your goal. Most just wing it and try their best and many times, that just leads to falling flat on their faces. Instead, others seem to be able to win many more times than they lose. Is it because they are witty or pretty? Or perhaps because of some hidden secret? We will uncover three of the rules today in this article that will give you a huge advantage the next time you negotiate.
Factor 1: First Impression
This might seem simple, and yet so many individuals choose to ignore it. The reality is, the way you look and act in the first few minutes, are going to determine whether or not your negotiation will succeed. When you first talk to someone, especially if you don’t know them very well or at all, you should compliment them and say nice things. In addition to that, you can add some language in there that can persuade others even before negotiations begin.
Some sample sentences you could use are:
- Don’t worry. I’ll give you a good deal.
- I’m sure we can hammer out a deal that we both like
- We can work out a fair deal quickly.
Factor 2 : Ask Big
When it comes to negotiating with others, many people have a price in mind and ask for that. If you’re selling your car as an example, you might think you can get $3000 for it and so you put the ad at that price. Now if you’ve ever done this, most people would answer your ad quickly in order to bargain and lower the price. They might recommend $2500. Eventually, you might end up selling the car for $2700, which is less than what you had in mind.
Well, this situation also works in reverse when you’re the buyer and in all situations. Whenever you are buying something, you will also bargain for a good price. Keeping this in mind, you can actually set your price a bit higher than what you actually want. So if you want to get a raise from your boss for maybe $2 more an hour, you should ask for $3. Then when the negotiations begin, when your boss tries to bargain you down, you are more likely to get what you’ve actually wanted than starting the bidding at $2.
Now, how are some ways you can put out your initial request could be:
- How about ____________
- _________ seems like a fair deal.
- The going price for something like this is about _____________
If the negotiations last a long time you can say:
- Sir/Maam, you drive a hard bargain so I can offer/accept _________
- You’re a great negotiator so we not _________ and we call it a deal.
- I appreciate what you’re saying Business English
Factor 3: Contrast
At times when you are trying to get a great deal, contrast is possibly one of the most effective ways to persuade others. In the former example of asking your boss for a raise, it would be great to give examples of how much more money it would take to rehire for your position or what competitors are offering. If it would take 4 weeks of training and rehiring for your position to occur, that would be a large strain and consideration for your employer to ponder. If your supervisor is made aware of this, then it looks like a pretty good deal if they simply give you the raise you’re looking for. When selling your car, mentioning that a similar ad is $1,000 more than yours, makes your ad look much better in comparison and would encourage buyers to scoop up your good deal quicker than if that comparison didn’t exist. It’s like they say, you don’t need to run faster than the dog, you only need to run faster than one of your friends.
Hopefully, some of these quick tips on negotiation can help you to land a great deal the next time you are in a negotiation!
Author’s Profile 作者簡介
Mr. Walter Lam
Born in Canada, I’ve taught English for the last seven years in Hong Kong in-person and online. I currently have an IG following of over 5000 followers, and also do streams teaching English to students. In addition, I taught a lot in regards to TOEIC, the HKDSE, and IELTS.
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