Negotiate a Win-Win

I received a baseball type of cap when participating in a golf tournament about 10 years ago and I still wear it because it reminds me of an important principal: On the front of the cap it says “ Win-Win”. I equate that phrase to mean that you can be a winner at negotiating by seeing to it that the other party is still getting their needs met in the transaction. And, just because you win doesn’t mean someone has to lose.

My most successful negotiations have come from bridging the gap of misinformation and miscommunication between buyer and seller. Once I can get to the truth about what the parties are truly motivated by, I can then structure a deal that makes everyone happy.   It’s a universal principle that holds true in business, marriage, friendships etc.   If as a businessperson, we would shut our collective mouths for a moment and listen to the other side’s position, we will gain the understanding of what they are thinking and needing to be able to accept our proposal /offer (or whatever). We can then incorporate and address those needs in our offer and thereby eliminate any objections they are having. 

The hard part about invoking this strategy is that you have to know what questions to ask and be able to give the other party a comfortable way to express their side openly and honestly. This only works if you truly DO CARE about creating the WIN-WIN.  The moment the other party suspects you are using their information to manipulate them, prepare for the negotiations to go cold. 

Author Stephen Covey cites this principle as one of the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People...”Seek first to understand and then be understood”. Try applying this to all of your relational dealings and see how much more effective you are at getting what you want in life.