Negotiating Tip #2:
Managing Conflict
There’s no getting around it:
Negotiations are inevitably going to involve conflict. The very reason for a negotiation is that we do not agree. Most of us find conflict unpleasant. We try to avoid conflict with our friends and family; we fear appearing unreasonable or alienating the other person. That might be a good approach for social settings… but business negotiations are not social settings. In a business negotiation, it is appropriate to defend your interests even if that upsets the other side.
The key, however, is to find a way to disagree without being disagreeable. More on that next week.