Have you ever felt stuck in a negotiation leading to you feeling powerless, used, and exploited? Fear not. In this article, you will walk away with several tricks and tips to use in future negotiations. And the best thing is that you can start using these tools today! All negotiation tools are backed by studies done from top universities across the country, like Harvard.
Skill #1: Perception vs. Perspective
We have all heard the phrase “put yourself in that person’s shoes”. Typically used for one person to understand another’s situation, life, emotional state and more. But do you truly understand the power of this tool? Let me help. First, let’s define these terms: Perception is what you interpret, it is your understanding of a situation. Perspective is your point of view, it’s the lens you see the world through and determines how you view yourself, others, and everything around you. Most people live in their own perception, they are the star of their universe, bound to how they see the world through their own five senses. It is difficult to see the world in your perspective, but if you can–it will unlock an unfair advantage.
For example; when you go into a car dealership to buy a car, you may think you have an idea of what you want, the car, style, price, etc. On the contrary, the salesperson you speak to knows almost exactly what it is you want. Why? Well, because they have been trained in salesmanship and they have perspective while you have perception. Do you see this yet? The salesman with perspective is able to upsell you on leather seats, enhanced stereo system, and other features that you think you want–increasing perceived value. Putting more money in their pocket. Once you develop the habit of perspective, you will be able to predict the behaviors of someone stuck in their own perception and by extension, get the results you want in any negotiation.
Skill #2: Tactical Empathy
Let’s look at this technique through the lens of a realtor-client relationship. But first, what is empathy? Empathy is a deep understanding of other people’s motivations, perspectives, biases, and weaknesses–it is not sympathy and feeling what other people feel.
From the client’s perspective on potentially buying a new home, it is best to build rapport and allow the realtor to take you, the client along the journey. Allowing the realtor to take charge fosters a more collaborative environment for working through the inevitable differences that will arise in money, possibly add-ons, etc. Tactical empathy in this situation is also knowing and being conscious of potential snakes in the grass, hidden tricks used by the realtor to persuade you to buy.
Through employing this tactic, one of the end goals is to disarm the realtor and make him slowly put his guard down. Once he’s defenseless, now is the time to use effective communication, critical information that’s needed, empathy, and much more.
Both these skills take time to develop, as does anything else. But by being conscious of both in future situations, you will have an unfair advantage.