When you’re negotiating and your offer is rejected, how do you reshape, paraphrase, or reposition it to make it more appealing? No one has to look too far, to understand the difficulties one can incur when trying to have an offer accepted during negotiations. We can draw from the daily experiences in our own lives as examples.
During negotiations, when you present and offer and you have to reshape, or reposition it, keep the following thoughts in mind.
- Understand how the other negotiator perceives your offer, compared to the interest she represents.
- Present your offer in a manner that is perceived as being most advantageous to the other negotiator (50% off is more appealing to some people, while ‘2 for 1’ will tantalize the senses of others, and yet ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ may appeal to a different mindset. All three offers are the same, but one will have a greater appeal to the needs of some over the others.)
- Understand who is aligned with whom. A negotiator may appear to adopt a position that is irrational and completely out of line with what he should be seeking. By knowing with whom he’s aligned, his actions will underscore his motivation. Then, the motivation of his requests will give you greater insight and understanding as to why he adopts one course of action versus another.
- Understand the emotions that are attached to a request or proposal when negotiating. In some situations, you’ll miss why a proposal is so controversial, if you don’t understand the emotions that are attached to the proposal. If you miss the reason ‘why’, you’ll miss the opportunity to advance the negotiation. In essence, you could end up stuck in addressing an issue when in reality, you should be addressing the ‘cause’ of the issue.
- When reshaping the paradigm of the other negotiator, don’t be pompous. Stress the benefits that her ‘interest’ will gain from your offer. If the perception is not perceived as beneficial, don’t be chagrined by your efforts. Reposition your offer again, based on the feedback you receive.
The way people perceive offers depends on their mindset, situation, and the interest they represent. By presenting your offer in a manner that appeals to the hierarchy of the other negotiator needs, your offer becomes more appealing. By making your offer more appealing, you increase the probability of it being accepted … and everything will be right with the world.
The Negotiation Tips Are …
- With twenty-twenty hindsight, everyone knows what he or she should/could have done to improve the outcome of a negotiation. In seeking experience for future negotiations, examine what occurred in past negotiations and reflect upon what the other negotiators’ position was and why they maintained their position.
- Learn to ‘frame’ and then ‘reframe’ offers so that they appear most appealing. By doing so, you’ll have more control in a negotiation and thus, you’ll be able to progress the negotiation in the direction you seek.
- To understand what the other negotiator is experiencing, try to adopt his mindset. Seek to understand his perspective, based on why he’s negotiation from his perspective.