20 hard Tactics for Negotiating Business Deals

“You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate.” –Anon

In the last few months, I got a great opportunity to act as a go-to-Negotiator/Mediator for my clients for settling Corporate Disputes/Joint Ventures/Consortium/family settlement deals for them. My role in this assignment was not limited to legal drafting and finalizing legal joint ventures/shareholders/ settlement agreements but extended to negotiating the legal and business terms of the deals on behalf of my clients in their best interest.

During the entire process of negotiation, I found that Deal Negotiations on behalf of clients is an extremely challenging and responsible area of practice provided one possesses excellent negotiation skills as it is a result-oriented assignment. We definitely secured all the deals but during the entire process, I learned and followed some basic principles which I gathered by reading and dealing extensively on subjects i.e “ Negotiations and How to have crucial discussions.” I thought of sharing my experience, views, and 20 hard tactics for negotiating and securing business deals as a go-to- negotiator for corporate clients which was an enriching experience for me, and hope it will be useful to anyone cracking business/professional deals:

1.    Negotiation is strategic communication that involves either making deals or resolving conflicts.

2.    Negotiation is a vital business skill that is used in different contexts in business and organizational life i.e in union negotiation to corporate takeover, merger arrangements, disputes, joint ventures/ consortium, and even in everyday situations.

3.    A negotiator should possess interactive communication skills, legal and financial knowledge, writing, and time management skills should have proper body language, presentation, and appearance. They should also possess knowledge in many other disciplines like behavioral economics, decision theory, game theory, social and cognitive psychology.

4.    Negotiation is mainly the process of bargaining that arranges and agrees the basis on which agreement will be concluded, the terms and conditions under which the deal be stuck.

5.    The techniques of negotiation are many and varied and their use must be tailored, to the individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

6.    Successful negotiation necessitates understanding exactly what negotiation is, why it is complex, and how exactly it works.

7.    The process of negotiation involves a fair amount of giving and take, the to and fro discussion and it cannot be rushed & pushed. A Win-Win situation should be adopted and importance should be on seeking common ground, rather than fighting for your way on everything. The aim should be an agreement, not a stalemate.

8.    The Negotiator should demand clear instructions from the party he represents on the following issues-

 ·      His boundaries of responsibilities, accountability, authority, and his clear role in the negotiation process.

·      Who will be the final coordinator or decision-maker in this deal with whom you will interact and consult on regular basis?

·      Whether that Director/officer will be present in all negotiation meetings and follow-ups with him? It is always advisable to make your nominating authority attend all the negotiations meetings either personally or through telephone/video conferencing to avoid any confusion and for speedy proceedings.

9.    The deal in question is required to be thoroughly analyzed in terms of its features and benefits and what is the need from this negotiation i.e to make more money, save time, efforts or hassles, be more secure, sort out problems, exploit opportunities, etc. So always be in constant discussion on these goals and issues.

10. The important step is how to put the proposal before the other party. It should be expressed in proper and clear language, style, argument, respecting other party points of view and each seeing things from their perspective.

11. Always remember that knowledge and information are power in negotiation. There should be clarity of thoughts and experience in this process. You have to suggest to your client/party for putting a proposal that will put things right. The motive should not be arguments as arguments cannot be negotiated; only proposals can. Always make sure that your client provides you fair and factual information timely.

12. Preparation is an essential preliminary to success. Proposal Preparation should be thorough. You must do thorough homework on each and every term proposed. The negotiation process should be structured properly and should not spiral out of control. Control of language, emotions, body language is a must. Your win is dependent on your attitude. You should be focused all the time without becoming distracted, angry, frightened, and without provoking another side to cut off negotiations and above that, you should have excellent listening skills.

13.  Be well prepared and do research on the following points before sitting at the negotiation table:

1.    The other party /people involved and their reputation

2.    Your own position

3.    Role and/or intentions do they have?

4.    Subjective or objective needs of another party

5.    What problems will they raise? What objections will they make?

6.    What are they aiming to achieve and how strong in their bargaining position?

7.    Can they decide alone and what must they consult about with someone else?

14. The biggest challenge is in figuring out how to get what your party/client wants in the negotiations- knowing that another party is also working towards the same outcome from their side too.

15. One should be firm but at the same time informative and polite.

16. Always draft the first version of the letter of intent/term sheet/agreement. Never agree on any terms in haste. The bad deal can have long-lasting implications.

17. In the case of cross-border deal negotiations, we need to know and learn other party’s country/continent culture and traditions before we start talking to them on any terms and negotiations. It is a must-have win-win deal.

18. Never accept the first offer. Always be prepared to leave the table. Know beforehand your target price and the walk-away price.

19. Hire the best of lawyers and advisors to walk through the deal.

20. Time is the enemy of most of the deals. The longer it is taking to take off, the more chances of getting crashed and derailed. Don’t rush but balance is the key.

 So the Bottom line is never burning your bridges. You never know when you might have to cross those rivers again. Whatever happens, always agree to part as friends. 

Disclaimer: This is for general information and not a legal advise.