The Negotiation Book: Your Definitive Guide To Successful Negotiating

9.9. PLANNING FROM A PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE

I have saved what is probably the most important element of negotiation till the end. It is then both easy to find as a reference and to share with others. If preparation is critical to negotiation then preparing in a team, as a team, using the same thinking, language and approach is just as important as the act itself (see Chapter 7, page 211, "Negotiation using empowerment within team roles").

This approach, consisting of a number of tools, provides a standard for preparation which is easy to utilise and delivers consistency, confidence and certainty. It also ensures that you are thinking from inside the head of the other party in the way you evaluate the importance and value of variables and build an agenda aimed at maximising value. The beauty of the planning process is that you can start with your primary variables, say price, volume, timescales and contract length, specification and payment terms. Your planning can then move on to examining the hidden costs. Planning and preparation provides the opportunity to work out the other party's costs and the values they will place on each variable.

The way variables influence total value agreements will differ for all parties involved. Some of the things which you regard as important or valuable may well be ranked differently from the value others place on them. Some of this will have been objectively assessed and some will be because you have been effective in pre-conditioning them around ...