Negotiation is a part of daily life, but it’s not always easy to do it effectively. You negotiate when you buy a car, when you work out a conflict with a family member, or when you’re contacting customer support. And of course, you negotiate when you’re doing your job. There are a lot of barriers […]
You know the feeling. It’s a combination of disappointment, frustration, and nerves. Your palms might feel sweaty, perhaps you can’t quite find the words to respond. Your counterpart, with whom you were casually negotiating mere minutes ago, has dropped a bomb. You’ve just been threatened in your negotiation. Cue the adrenaline. Your fight or flight […]
You might be an ethical, well-intended negotiator who’s always aiming for win-win outcomes. But let’s not be naïve: not every person you encounter will have the same mindset. Sometimes, perhaps more often than you’d like, you’ll come up against underhanded negotiation tactics designed to knock you off balance and pressure you to accept less-than-perfect deals. […]
When you think about factors that could impact your next payrise, your performance, presentation and punctuality might come to mind. They’re important elements of many jobs, but there’s a lot more to a successful salary negotiation. In our last blog we explored how the power to persuade can improve your negotiation outcomes. Now let’s look […]
Negotiations aren’t just about offers and counter-offers. The state of your connection with your counterpart can make all the difference to how things turn out. That’s why rapport building is critical. It helps to create a collaborative dynamic that’s more conducive to achieving high value outcomes. But how do you build rapport effectively? Here are […]
At CMA, we spend a lot of time with people assisting them to prepare for their negotiations. A frequent refrain is, “But I never have enough time to prepare.” This may be true, and there are certainly going to be times when you don’t have as much time as you would like to prepare for […]
CMA Associate Rebecca Stowe offers her advice in response to a recent query on a property purchase: Q. I’m trying to purchase a house, which has been advertised as “private sale” by a real estate agent. The price the vendor has specified seems ambitious, and as a purchaser, I’m keen to pay as low a price […]
Most of us have negotiated to buy a car at least once in our lives. It can be an exhilarating and somewhat daunting experience. Traditionally, men have been perceived (whether true or not) as having the upper hand in the car negotiation stakes. But is that true today? Let’s find out. What the research says… […]
In a previous post, we discussed why you should make the first offer in a negotiation. But what should you do if they get in first and make the initial offer? The advice here is short and simple: always counter their initial offer before striking a deal. The power of countering This might come as […]
Power in negotiation depends on perceptions. If you perceive your counterpart as powerful, they’ll often be able to exert more influence over you. But what if that ‘power’ isn’t real? What if it’s deliberately fabricated to intimidate you into conceding to their demands? The best negotiators can effectively manage these intimation tactics. But, to do […]