How can you invent power and leverage for yourself in negotiations?

Is there a negotiation skills way to counter the power held by the other side in negotiations?

There is a technique to constantly create power for yourself whilst simultaneously challenging the power of your counterparts. If you consistently apply this technique, you will be rewarded with a substantial development in the quality of the deals that you close.

Much has been written about the authority that can be found in negotiations. Below are some examples of the things that might provide you with some power, which you would have come across in your sales negotiation training:

* Status & position (you or your position may be held in high regard)

* Physical appearance (you may be very big physically or be deemed to be physically appealing)

* Organisational position (your organisation may be considered powerful)

Whilst the aforementioned are instances of some of the things that may award power on you or your counterpart in negotiations, without a shadow of a doubt, the single most effective way to developing influence for yourself in negotiations is to create alternatives. You will never have as much authority in a transaction as you will have if you are not restricted to one option only. If you can place yourself in a position where all you have to do is choose between alternatives, then you will constantly ensure that you have both power and leverage in negotiations.

The strange thing is that whilst we do think of alternatives when we negotiate we tend to make 2 key mistakes:

1. We deploy other possibilities too late in the negotiation process. Typically, we only start to think about other possibilities when we recognise that we are in a stalemate or in a difficult position. The problem with thinking about alternatives late in the negotiation process is that we could find ourselves in a situation where we have no time left and then we may be forced to accept an outcome we would have wished to avoid. The key to effectively developing alternatives is to do so even before you start negotiating.

2. We do not really invest ourselves in developing options. Whilst we may think about alternatives, often we do not put in place specific actions to develop these options. It is key that once we've identified possible alternatives that we actively engage in exploring these alternatives. If you want both power and leverage in your negotiations, then you will have no alternative but to explore fully all the options available to you. As a matter of fact, you may even have to invent some alternatives if there seems to be no alternatives available.

Remember that successful negotiations and creativity go together. Here's a word of caution though. Use your negotiation training, because you should carefully think about whether you should let your counterparty know about the alternatives that you have at your disposal. If you are in a very competitive negotiation environment then there is not much damage in letting your counterpart know that you have many options available. However, if you are in a collaborative environment, it may be best to not openly reveal the alternatives available to you as this may have a counterproductive impact on your relationships.

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