Blog: The Negotiation Edge

Whereas the best leaders can help their teams unlock their full potential, those who fail at leadership doom their teams to suboptimal results, toxic cultures, and overall unpleasantness.

Keep these tips in mind to avoid leadership failure and create an environment that optimizes your team’s productivity.

At Black Swan, we’re always working hard to help people like you become better negotiators. 

In my experience, reaching your full potential as a negotiator requires freeing yourself from traditional, limited ways of thinking.

With that in mind, here are three ways you can master sales negotiations and achieve better outcomes every time you sit down at the table.

Life is full of negotiations. Every time you’re in the middle of a conversation in which someone says I want or I need, you’re in a negotiation. 

From personal encounters to high-stake corporate negotiations, the following tips will help guide you to achieving successful outcomes.

A while back, I wrote about three ways negotiators take themselves hostage and what you can do to avoid making these same missteps. 

Since then, I’ve identified three additional negotiation tactics that end up putting you in a terrible position at the table. 

Read on to learn more about each of them and what you can do to avoid having these negotiation tactics derail your efforts.

Poor communication can have a devastating impact on any workplace environment. Not only does it derail productivity, frustrate employees, and damage morale, but it also takes a massive bite out of your bottom line. 

No matter how effective your sales team is, it can always improve.

If you’re on the fence about whether it’s worthwhile to invest in sales negotiation training, keep reading to learn four of the top  reasons you may or may not decide to  bite the bullet and set aside the resources needed to get your team to the next level.

“The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don’t know you’re in.” What hidden negotiations drain your time (your most valuable commodity) each and every day? 

If you want to become an expert real estate negotiator, read Never Split the Difference.

Seriously. 

After you’ve done that, keep these five tips in mind to sharpen those skills and solidify your status as a world-class realtor who gets the best deals every time.

Because you’re reading these words, chances are that you want to become an Assertive negotiator.

Stop it!

It’s time to let go of that desire. The fact that you want to become an Assertive negotiator is hurting your efforts. The reality is: The whole Assertive negotiator persona is factually a detriment to true influence. No ones likes being yelled at.

The Black Swan Group teaches about the three negotiator types: Assertives, Accommodators, and Analysts. According to rough data, negotiators split up evenly into each of these groups. This means you only have a one in three chance of running into an Assertive—your chances of running into an Analyst or an Accommodator are much higher.

Every now and again, the best negotiators find themselves sitting across the table from someone who is nonconfrontational.

Because we are all so accustomed to dealing with counterparts who love to battle, it’s always worth revisiting the most effective ways to deal with nonconfrontational people.