Knowing how to start a negotiation is as important as knowing how to finish it. Therefore, it is essential that you know when you have negotiated well so you can close the deal and when you have room to improve the agreement and continue negotiating. A good negotiator knows how to reach the limit of the agreement without risking the relationship with the other party, the agreement itself or his image and reputation.

To clearly understand how you have fared, ask yourself the following 10 questions:

1. To what extent is the result comparable to your expectations?
2. To what extent has your strategy been good?
3. What processes have helped you and have worked for you?
4. What processes have curbed you and have led to failure?
5. What has the other negotiator done to help you or what circumstance has caused him to open up?
6. What has the other party done that created deadlock for you?
7. In what ways have you caused the other person to open up or change their point of view?
8. What has happened or disturbed the negotiation in an unexpected way?
9. What have you learned from this negotiation?
10. What would you do differently next time?

Be aware of the importance of negotiating and, above all, of doing it well. You can train to negotiate and learn a lot from the experience until you become a great negotiator.

The effective negotiator 

If you want to be a good and effective negotiator, express your feelings and explain how you feel during the negotiation.

Example: “I am disappointed in your reaction. I feel undervalued”. Or “I am happy after so many years working together to see that for one more year we’ll continue to cooperate. Thanks for your trust!”

Search for information systematically and you’ll have power. Good negotiators verify, search and find.Analyse your understanding of the other negotiator, make partial summaries during the process, verify, etc. Thoroughly prepare various possible options and spend time analysing long-term and short-term goals.

Please note that this is not a game and that you have to be honest and direct.

Set your goals in the form of windows and exact figures.

Example: If you want to make a profit, do it between 18% and 20%. Know the market, the product, the trends and your competitors.

You know where you want to go, but sometimes you don’t know how. So be open and flexible during the negotiation.

To be a good negotiator in the business world, apply the following tips:

• Respect the instructions of your company and your mandate.
• Prepare the plan internally before negotiating. Do not improvise!
• Be creative and imaginative in finding solutions, sometimes outside the established framework.
• Look for the other party’s most ambitious challenges, even those that may be hidden.
• Separate underlying problems from personal problems.
• Identify potential obstacles.
• Prepare coalitions and alliances.