Self Help

If we negotiate primarily to achieve our goals, then options and alternatives are the lifeblood of negotiations. Most negotiations that people participate in are fairly straight-forward and not too complicated. However, as the level of complexity of these negotiations increases, so too does the need for creating alternatives and options. It is easy to hit a brick wall or stumbling block in any negotiation. The big question is, however, how are you going to get around it and reach your final destination? You will never do it if you cannot find different avenues to the same goal.

In any negotiation, there are really many different approaches to reaching an agreement. You may try one or several and find that those paths are blocked. If you are persistent and creative, however, you will come up with the path that will lead you to success. You should not let yourself be stopped by someone’s initial rebuke of your position. Instead, you should try another option or alternative on them. It might just be the one that does the trick. If it is not, however, you must find another alternative, and you must keep trying until all options have been exhausted.

In negotiating you have to be persistent. Have you ever watched an ant carry an object that was at least twenty times larger than the ant itself? The ant may stumble many times along the way back to its nest, but each time the ant stumbles, it finds another hold on the object, picks it up, and continues towards its goal. So too should you not let minor setbacks block your way to your goals.

Brainstorm, draw your counterparts into the discussions, ask them to suggest options. Do not let anything get past you. Do not think that any particular alternative is too trivial or is certain to be turned down by the other party. It may very well be this particular angle which gets you to your goal. Do not be afraid to suggest something that at first glance might seem impossible to achieve.

Be sure to first establish the limits of your counterpart’s authority. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of negotiating with someone who does not have the authority to reach final agreement with you. This, however, is something that you should avoid at all costs. Time is money. The last thing you want to do is invest a lot of time in trying to work out a solution with another party only to find out that he or she lacks the authority to reach a final agreement with you. It can be a very frustrating experience to invest hours and hours in a negotiation only to find that you have to present your position again to someone above your negotiating counterpart.

Do not let yourself fall into this trap. You need to ask your counterparts very pointed questions. What are the limits of their authority? Can they make decisions for their organization? If so, what are the limits of those decisions? Will someone else in the organization have to ratify the agreement? If so, who, and how long will that take? Do your counterparts have the ability to bind their company in writing to the agreement that you reach? These are the kinds of questions you should ask to fully explore your counterparts’ authority.