Developing Your Negotiation Skills

When you build your own business, there is always the possibility that you will be entering negotiation with different parties. Negotiations make take place between you and your potential business partners, joint venture parties, capitalists and more.

While everyone can enter negotiations, not everyone is endowed with the proper skills to negotiate properly. Proper negotiation skill requires practice and some might even need to undergo a series of seminar in order for them to acquire the right skills to negotiate.

Why Do I Need to Develop My Negotiation Skills?

The answer is simple. Learning how to negotiate properly can have a direct impact on your business. The impact may be positive or negative of course, it would all depend on how you carry out the negotiations. The end goal of any negotiation is always positive that is why if you want to direct your business on the proper direction, you only need skills that could help you survive.

Pointers to Improve Your Negotiation Skills

1. Know the points that you want to discuss. Even before the negotiation starts, you need to have in mind what you want to achieve. This step is very crucial because this would determine the plan of action that you will create given your end goal. This is very logical because you cannot enter a negotiation without really knowing what you want for yourself. For instance, if you are a regular employee who wants to ask your boss for a salary increase, then you need to have that goal in mind and prepare the different arguments so your boss would agree with what you want. Doing otherwise would only make your conversation with your boss nothing but a plain conversation without any direction or purpose. This would also make it hard for your partner or boss to know what you really want and you will only leave them guessing.

2. Know with whom you are negotiating. Soldiers who are successful in their combat are those who know their enemy and the terrain. You have to remember that you are not negotiating with a machine but with a human being such as yourself. Do know that almost everyone wishes to be treated like a human being and a professional, if you will be speaking with one. Show that you are willing to listen and compromise when necessary. Anyway, that’s what negotiations are for. When you listen, try not to rebut what they say in your mind. Stop what you are thinking and absorb what the other party has to say.

There are still other pointers that I wish to discuss but that would be for another article. But for this, I have made two points clear: you have to know what you want and you have to know what the other party wants out of your negotiation.


A large portion of Graham Wilson’s life has been devoted to the role of mentor, coach or teacher. His skills have been honed in an eclectic array of environments such as sports, industrial technology, personal development and most recently wealth creation. Graham provides guidance on how to navigate your way through the personal challenges and expectations you face on your venture. You can visit his blog at www.insearchofwealth.com