How to Become a Powerful Negotiator Overnight

I have done my share of successful negotiating, and I have learned a lot along the way. A powerful negotiator is one who understands how people work and what they want. If you want to be a powerful negotiator, you need to understand people and their problems. Identify the real problem In some negotiations, the problem and the solution might be extremely clear. When you understand the true root problem, you are able to offer more (and often better) solutions. This bias can cause even the most powerful negotiator to misidentify the root cause of a problem. The framing effect is a type of cognitive bias that causes us to react differently to information based on how it is presented to us. What does this mean in negotiations? To leverage anchoring in negotiations, you must be the first person to offer a number. Anchor the conversation in negotiations by being the first to state a number and you will be in a powerful position.

I have spent a great deal of time over the years in negotiations.

One of the most interesting things is that the perceptions and realities of negotiations are often drastically different.

When you think of the world of negotiations, what comes to mind?

High-powered suits in closed-door meetings?

Lots of angry scowls and fists pounding on boardroom tables?

What do you imagine a powerful negotiator looks like?

Taller, stronger, and with a louder voice?

Like you, most people imagine negotiations the way they are pictured on television in late-night sitcoms.

The reality, I have found, looks much different.

Throughout the last decade, I have founded, acquired, and sold off several companies. I have negotiated contracts, salaries, and funding.

I have done my share of successful negotiating, and I have learned a lot along the way.

Today, I want to share some of the lessons I have learned over the last decade of closing million-dollar deals.

Here is the thing: When done well, negotiating doesn’t look like it does in the movies.

Success.com shares that negotiating is more of an art than a science, and it starts with overcoming these challenges.

A powerful negotiator isn’t the one with the biggest pockets, the sharpest suit, or even the coolest swagger.

A powerful negotiator is one who understands how people work and what they want.

A powerful negotiator is willing to work hard to make sure that everyone in the room walks away satisfied.

They are interested in making sure everyone, including their so-called opponents, are happy.

Being a powerful negotiator might not be as ‘cool’ as it looks on television, but it can extremely rewarding — and not just monetarily.

If you want to be a powerful negotiator, you need to understand people and their problems. That is the heart of the negotiation strategies I want to share with you today.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to leverage these four strategies during your next negotiation.

Identify the real problem

In some negotiations, the problem and the solution might be extremely clear.

For example, in a salary negotiation, your goal is to negotiate for more money or maybe even better benefits.

In this situation, the problem is pretty clear.

In other negotiations, the root problem might not be as easy to identify.

For example, let’s say that, after you’ve worked with a company for five years, you go to your boss to negotiate for more paid time off.

The problem could be that you need more flexibility in your schedule for doctors’ appointments.

Or it could be that you really want to go to a concert, but have used up all your paid time on a vacation.

When you understand the true root problem, you are able to offer more (and often better) solutions.

For example, if your real problem is that you need to make doctor’s appointments due to a health issue, the solution might be a flexible start time — not more vacation time.

Keep in mind, the goal of any negotiation is to solve a problem.

However, there are several biases you need to keep in mind. The University of Notre Dame reveals that a cognitive bias undermines decision-making.

A powerful negotiator understands that there can be multiple causes to a problem and takes the time to uncover the true cause by analyzing the information they have and being careful to avoid biases.

If you want to succeed at negotiating, you need to understand what outcome you are seeking. This means you need to understand the real problem — not just the most apparent one.

This is where the immediacy bias comes into play.

The immediacy bias states that humans perceive more recent events and emotions as carrying more weight than events and emotions that are further away from them, whether physically, geographically, or chronologically.

This bias can cause even the most powerful negotiator to misidentify the root cause of a problem.

For example, you get to work on Monday morning and try to log in to your computer.

Your password does not work. Why?

You remember that IT planned to update a proprietary security application over the weekend. Convinced that this is the problem, you use your phone to fire off an irritated email to the head of IT.

You later find out that the server is down, disconnecting your computer from the network.

Instead of considering other root causes, immediacy bias caused you to jump to a conclusion based on the most recent information you had.

It makes sense — the lion in front of you is a bigger threat than a tiger that’s 500 feet away.

In business, this means we tend to consider the issue right in front of us as being of the utmost importance.

There are dozens of biases that affect how we make decisions.

Sometimes, however, problems are more complex and cannot be explained by the information closest to us.

A root-cause analysis will help you determine and address the true problem.

The Five Whys is a simple technique that will ensure that you are addressing the root cause.

According to Olivier Serrat, Principal Knowledge Management Specialist at Asian Development Bank, “By asking ‘why’ five times, one can usually peel away the layers of symptoms that hide the cause of a problem.”

How does this work in practice?

When presented with a problem, ask the question “Why?” five times.

I need to increase my organic reach on Facebook.

Why?

Because it will help me drive more people to my Facebook group and to my website.

Why?

My site isn’t getting enough traffic to earn money through Adsense, and I read an article that said that Facebook groups and organic social traffic are the best ways to boost traffic.

In this case, it doesn’t even take five why’s before you find the root problem — your site isn’t making you any money.