Starting and building a business can be a monster of a task. According to AdvisorSmith, at least 20% of new businesses close their doors within the first year. To stay afloat, consider mastering the art of negotiation. Here’s why learning how to negotiate is critical for every business owner.
Boost your bottom line
With negotiation skills training, you can get the best possible deals for your business. For example, you can negotiate discounts with suppliers and service providers. The ripple effect of securing better deals for your business is an improved bottom line. For instance, if you can lower your costs by 8%, that saving translates directly into a higher net profit.
Also, accepting the first offer you get often leads to leaving value on the table. Negotiations afford you the chance to draw more value. The best negotiators have mastered how to glean as much benefit as possible from business deals.
Build stronger relationships
Knowing how to negotiate can help your business build stronger relationships with stakeholders, vendors and customers. Trained negotiators know how to hammer out win-win relationships that shape longer-lasting business relationships.
Negotiations can be tense and explosive situations. So, trained negotiators learn emotional intelligence. For instance, they learn to quickly read situations, thaw tensions and step back before things blow up. With these skills, you avoid burning bridges that your growing business may need in the future.
Also, by learning how to negotiate you can create a good report about yourself and your business. Once your name rings the right kind of bells within the industry you can build mutual trust and respect to open doors for future business.
Conflict resolution
Relationships with business partners and employees can be bumpy. Knowing how to negotiate can help resolve conflicts more smoothly. For instance, one key negotiation technique is active listening. It trains you to hear the other side out and gain more perspective on what they are looking to get out of the negotiations.
Once you see things from the other person’s point of view you can straighten out differences. Resolving conflicts through negotiations can help your company flourish by securing loyalty from employees, customers, and business partners.
Skills building
The skills taught in negotiation classes can have a positive impact on every area of your business. For example:
Analysis
To negotiate effectively, you are trained to take a deep dive into the problem. Once you have the full picture of the problem at hand, you can break issues down into smaller chunks and tackle them one by one. Transferring these powers of analysis to other areas of your business such as finance and customer relations can help you solve problems more effectively, helping your business grow.
Inquiry
Trained negotiators understand that the secret to negotiations is asking the right questions and listening. When you are all ears, you can uncover the other side’s needs, helping you prepare better offers. Using the same techniques with your customers can help you get to the bottom of their needs. Once you are fully tuned in to your customer’s needs, you can present brilliant pitches that get more buyers.
Bottom line, negotiation skills are critical for giving your business a firm foundation. So, consider getting the training you need to build and sharpen your skills.
