Company of Young Professionals Development Night: Negotiating to Win

By Amanda Grochowich

On Nov. 18, Members of The Vancouver Board of Trade's Company of Young Professionals program received a crash course in "negotiating to win" by Shane Gibson, an international speaker, sales trainer, and author of Closing Bigger.

Gibson shared insights on how to lead successful negotiations, with an end goal of getting what you want, while making the other person feel like they've won.

Here are Gibson's Eights Key Ingredients to Principle-based Negotiations:

1) Prepare
Identify what you are willing to accept, including when you'll be happy as well as when you're prepared to walk away. Brainstorm possible arguments and objections and know how to respond to them, in addition to alternatives to a negotiated agreement. Create a list of concessions that can be 'given.'

2) Set your terms
Where are you meeting? Do you have the necessary time allocated for the negotiations? Which medium are you using?

3) Focus on Interests
What outcomes are you looking for? There will always be multiple ways to achieve your desired outcomes. Brainstorm as many options to achieve those goals as possible.

4) Centre Yourself
Train yourself to not react when thrown, it's a great disarming technique.

5) Build a positive third space
Aim to have the space between people – unique to every situation – be positive, focusing on personal appearances, non-verbal cues and body language, and physical settings.

6) Have a questioning process
Make sure to ask a variety of questions – open and closed. Start with general questions but don't leave the hard stuff until the end. Build small agreements into the larger negotiation process.

7) Listen
Be a 70-30 listener. Observe body language, including breathing, eye movements, posture, changes in tone and action.

8) Build an ultimate outcome
Say the outcome using their words and in the context of their interests.
As the session drew to a close, Gibson reemphasised that all of us are negotiating all the time in our daily lives. With awareness and preparation, we can all go home feeling like winners.