“How To Win More Negotiations By Using Positioning”
Do you know how to win more negotiations by using positioning? Positioning occurs when you frame the way you wish to be perceived by the opposing negotiator. If you position yourself properly, the negotiation will flow more effortlessly and you will have enhanced its outcome before entering into the negotiation.
Defining yourself per the way you wish to be perceived:
In all aspects of our lives, we have and project our reputation. Even the absence of a reputation says something about the fact that you’re not known. Thus, in order to make sure the image that best suits you is perceived, you need to define who you wish to be perceived as. This can be accomplished in the initial communication you engage in with the opposing negotiator. As an example, Donald Trump is said to have told his go-betweens to inform people that were to meet him that he did not shake the hand of people. Being told this, the person that Donald met would be amazed when the first thing Donald did upon meeting that person was to reach out and shake their hand. That gesture left many of them awed by that act. It only served to heighten Donald’s persona. It also positioned him nicely prior to a negotiation.
Positioning through the people you’re surrounded by:
Another way to enhance your positioning prior to a negotiation is by the people that you surround yourself with. In some cases having a large entourage is enough to be impressive. The same can be true for the environment that the negotiation is held in, if it’s on your home court. To the degree you wish to be perceived as being impressive you can have gatekeepers that make it challenging to reach you directly. At the appropriate time, you can dismiss the gatekeepers to grant the person with whom you’ll be negotiating easier access to you. This gesture should lead to an intrinsic chit that you can spend during the negotiation.
When positioning …
- Understand what you’re attempting to accomplish through your positioning.
- Assess how the opposing negotiator might perceive your positioning. Do this from the perspective of what he already knows about you and what he thinks about the reasoning behind your positioning.
- Appraise the degree your positioning is believable. If it’s not, even if it’s true, you could do more harm than good.
You may have heard that you only get one chance to make a first impression. That’s not true. Since everyone evolves in life, you get to reposition yourself time and time again throughout your life. As such, we are all blind to our own brilliance and in some cases the lack of. To the degree you position yourself via the way you want to be perceived in a negotiation and you’re accepted in that manner, the opposing negotiator will follow your lead, feel at ease when making concessions (to a point), and trust you to do what you say you’ll do. That being the case, the negotiation will be a lot smoother for everyone involved … and everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating!