Leadership 3 . How to reach an agreement in a confrontation?

A prepared negotiation is a successful negotiation . Do your homework !

A month before returning to France , a given Monday, I put my Chevrolet Impala for sale on Craiglist. I want $ 5,000. I want to sell before flying back to France, I have assured maintenance with jealous care and a few hundred dollars (I act as a good father and I doing well). If I sell it within a week, I have to rent a car for our three week trip to Yellowstone (a 4,000 mile journey, approx. 6,000 km).

Someone calls, whose intention I soon discover: he wants a car like my Impala in this kind of shape in this kind of price for his daughter who commutes to the capital (a 1 hour drive) for work every day . An urgent purchase. He wants the car next Saturday, imperative. Appointment is made for tomorrow night , Tuesday.

I start preparing my negotiation. First, what are my best alternatives? What if I find myself at the foot of the plane with my Impala? Looking for some agent who could deal with a case similar to mine, soon I find one who, for $ 500, takes responsibility for selling my car—and says « anyway, anyone buys a Chevrolet Impala, she's gone within two weeks ». Conclusion: at worst, I'm going to Yellowstone with our Impala and I let the friendly shopkeeper take care of selling it, I certainly will lose his commission but I gain the cost of a rental car for 3 weeks.

And what are the alternatives, in my prospector’s point of view? Buy another car of the same kind in a radius of 50 miles. Is there any? I reconnect to Craiglist, this time as a buyer and find no similar car for sale in said radius. Conclusion : if my prospector confirms it’s imperative on Saturday, negotiation is poorly fitted for him, for his daughter: it's my car or nothing.

On Tuesday evening, my prospect comes along, becomes aware of the car, walks around, tries it, comes back and confirms his interest. I explain him my good father’s management and produce maintenance bills. Does he need it on Saturday? Yes, certainly. That said, he offers me $ 3,500. I reply: OK, in four weeks, when we return from our trip to Yellowstone. Uh, it does not help me! Well, why not $ 4900? I will have filled the tank on Friday and you take possession on Saturday. So be it.

Assumption. A prepared negotiation takes time, it is a long-lead item you’d better order before you need it. No alternative, no negotiation .

Tool. Negotiation.

Prepare a negotiation is to embark on a discovery of others and myself :

• What are my goals? What are theirs?
• What are my values? What are theirs?
• What are my constraints ? What are theirs?
• What are my thresholds ? What are theirs?
• What is my best alternative? What is theirs?

Warnings.

When one of the negotiating partners realizes that his vis- à-vis lacks alternative , negotiation stops .

Preparing a negotiation takes time. It is therefore wise to start before you need it. This is one of the goals of the stakeholder analysis: what are their overall objectives, what are their values, what constraints do they have?

Experimentation. Prepare for future negotiations; experiment negotiation and debrief with a trusted person, be yourself trustworthy person to a colleague.

References. Bargaining.

Stakeholder responsibility. Trustworthy person.