Blog: The Negotiation Edge

The best negotiators and most effective leaders possess high levels of emotional intelligence, or a high emotional quotient (EQ), meaning the ability to manage your emotions and effectively communicate while empathizing with other people and seeing their perspectives.

Although your IQ is mostly fixed by age 16, you can improve your EQ through your 80s. 

When many people sit down at the table with potential clients, the obvious goal is to make a connection. A good connection can create a lasting partnership that can benefit everyone in meaningful ways. Here’s the problem - frequently they go about this by trying  to establish common ground to form said connection.. When it comes to building a lasting partnership, common ground is a weak foundation.

Instead of establishing common ground, good negotiators build a real connection by expressing genuine understanding through tactical empathy. It’s an easy way to improve sales, and build a vast network of business relationships

If you are genuinely trying to understand the other side and build rapport, then you will be standing on solid ground even if the deal falls apart. Because you know exactly what this person has experienced, you can pick things up where you left off when the situation warrants.

If you’re new to the term, an Accusation Audit™ is a negotiation technique used to proactively address the negatives likely harbored by the other side and defuse them before they blow up the conversation later on.

But when should you use an Accusation Audit internally, and when should you use it with an external counterpart? Let’s find out.

When you deal with a board, you’re in a high-stakes negotiation. Whether your goal is buying a company, getting investment in a fund, or encouraging a pharmaceutical company to pivot from one drug to the next, there is a lot on the line, so you need to bring your A game to get the deal you’re after.

Next time you head into the boardroom, keep these communication and negotiation techniques in mind to increase the chances you achieve your desired outcome.

At Black Swan, we’re huge proponents of using Labels™ to arrive at the best outcomes. With an effective use of Labels, you’re able to unearth what the other side isn’t saying and identify a dynamic in the conversation that isn’t obvious. 

Keep reading to learn more about when, where, and how to use Labels to accomplish your objectives every time you sit down at the table.

When they start new roles, some leaders feel tempted to institute changes right away to make an immediate impact.

Unless it’s an emergency, there is no need for it.

This mindset is born from insecurity. All too often, new leaders enter the mix and are worried about how people view them, causing them to try and make their mark on a new role. They are trying to impress, saying to both superiors and subordinates: Look at me.

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.