When you negotiate, what do you focus on? Do you attempt to enhance your negotiation efforts by focusing more on your perception of perceived value?
One of my associates says he’ll always pick up a penny if he sees one laying on the ground. Another associate said he’ll never pick up a penny when he sees one laying on the ground. To the latter I asked why. He said a penny was not worth the effort it took to bend over and retrieve it. When I posed the question to the first associate per why he’ll pick a penny up, he said it adds to his wealth.
Mind you, a penny is a very small denomination, especially when it comes to adding value to one’s overall wealth. Nevertheless, as my first associate stated, it adds to his wealth and thus he’s a penny closer to his wealth goals.
In your negotiations, do you focus on how the small offers/counteroffers can add more value to your potential outcome? To enhance your perspective of value and to lend more focus to what value is, consider asking yourself the following questions when assessing your perception of value.
- What face value does the offer/counteroffer possess?
- What am I not seeing/considering as the result of how I’m perceiving value?
- If I looked at this situation from another perspective, what might that perspective look like and what might I expect to see?
- What’s missing? What am I not seeing?
- What do I have that the other negotiator wants that’s of perceived value to him?
- Where else can he get what I have and how long might it take him to acquire it?
- What if I knew more about the value an offer contained, what might that be?
- Who can I call on or use to assess the real value of an offer/counteroffer and what do I need to do to reach them?
- What influence am I under right now that’s causing me to have the outlook that I possess?
- How might I consider the value of something that’s priceless or something that appeared valueless?
- Why am I focusing on the perspective I have of value and what would happen if I wasn’t focused on that aspect versus another?
- What distractions might sway my focus of value?
- What else might have value that hasn’t been considered or offered and how might I use it to increase the value of my offer?
In thinking of value as addressed by the above, you’ll gain a greater perspective as to the potential of hidden value that you’d not considered. In addition, if you understand the value perspective of the other negotiator, you’ll be able to make offers/counteroffers that he views as valuable. Armed with this additional insight, you’ll be better positioned to make better offers/counteroffers. That will allow you to be more focused, which will lead to more winning negotiation outcomes, because you’ll have a more defined perspective of value … and everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating!