There are all kinds of skills that one needs to be truly successful as an entrepreneur, and one of those skills is the ability to negotiate. Pretty much everything we do in life involves negotiation in one way or another, and over the years, it is a skill that can be finely tuned. If you are planning on becoming an entrepreneur, you are really going to have to lean on your negotiating skills a lot, especially in the beginning, in order to ensure success. Here are some hot tips to help you be a better negotiator:
The power of abundance is essential: It is true that the more people have, the less they worry about losing a little bit. This can actually be a state of mind for everyone. You just have to believe that you have an abundance of something. It doesn't necessarily have to be money. You can have an abundance of talent, skills, or anything else, which will help give you the confidence to get out there and be able to negotiate your butt off. Remember to stay calm and believe in yourself, and you will be in an awesome position for negotiating anything.
Body language is so important: A lot of what you say doesn't come out in words. More than 50% of what you say comes from your body language, which can make or break a lot of deals. To become a better negotiator, it is a really good idea to learn about body language, and how you can use it to your advantage. Here is a great example. A lot of people often don't know what to do with their hands. The often end up sitting or standing with their arms crossed, which can actually show disinterest or even worse. Just knowing about how body language works and how to use it properly will give you a great edge when it comes to the art of negotiation.
Prove that you have value and that your services or products are really needed: When you are negotiating anything, you are always trying to get the upper hand and the best way to do this is to explain the benefits of what it is you are trying to promote or negotiate for and the problems that these benefits solve for the person you are negotiating with. Having the right attitude, along with body language and making an irresistible offer will really help you to seal the deals you make.
Sometimes you have to walk away to get what you want: Negotiating involves haggling, and sometimes, you just have to get up and walk away from the table, and make the other party think that you are no longer interested in making a deal. Basically, you and whoever you are negotiating with are throwing out prices, and you can either accept something, or walk away. This involves a little bit of acting, but you can actually win your negotiations by doing this, because there is a possibility that the person you are negotiating with is going to be afraid of losing the deal all together. And, if the deal still doesn't suit you, there are always going to be others down the road that you will negotiate to your satisfaction, and those you are dealing with know it. This makes it even easier for you to pretend to walk away, helping you to seal the deal in the end. And remember, at worst case scenario; you can always just walk away if the deal does not feel right for you, in fact you should!
Andrew McCombe is the owner of Activate Your Business where they teach new and existing business owners to Start, Grow and / or Automate their business(es) with EASE, so they can live a life of EASE. For more information visit http://www.activateyourbusiness.com.au