Listen, Anticipate and Compromise

Irrespective of your fundamental negotiating style, there are certain guidelines that you should follow:

Be willing to make small concessions. Identify what is important to you and focus on achieving gains from the other side on these issues. By making small concessions on a number of minor points a spirit of co-operation can be fostered, whilst enabling you to keep referring back to your main issues and seeking accommodation on them.

Anticipate the other side’s objections - and use this information to address them. By foreseeing obvious reservations that they may have you can address them and explain your point of view before the other side can raise them as a contentious issue. The one caution here is that you must be careful not to gift any arguments to the other side - by raising points that they may not have thought of.

Assertions of fact will have far more impact if they are backed up with published information. The use of domain experts may add a lot of weight to your position. If they are good communicators why not let them make the argument rather than just confirm your viewpoint.

Before you attempt to counter the other side’s argument it is important that you understand their position, by listening carefully to what they are saying. The way in which an argument is countered will be heavily influenced by the personality and style of the individual negotiator.