Keys to negotiation

Business strategy

Tips for conducting a negotiation processes, at both a professional and a personal level.

Avoid turning the negotiation into a haggling process; always seek a solution by getting to the situation where both parties end up winning.
Make your calculations before sitting down to negotiate. Base requests and demands on objective criteria, and actual, existing points.
Do not negotiate as if the other party were an adversary; solve the problem together. There is no need to see it as victories or defeats.
Explore many possibilities and options with the other party until an agreement is reached.
Think about the other party as much as you think about yourself; do not make proposals which are not "fair" enough. Make offers which are good for you but also acceptable for the other party.
Use the negotiation as a way to analyse the problem by asking questions and being open to new ways of devising the solution.
Determine the points where there is complete incompatibility with the other party and which points you agree on, as this will help you to find a swift solution to the dispute.
Make a list of the interests of each party; this will help you to find points in common.
Try to exchange the points of most value to you with those which are of most value to your counterpart.
Always negotiate by looking for mutually beneficial options. Don't think that with every problem what one wins, the other loses.