Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/339857
32 FEDA News & Views Negotiation Styles continued When to use? Under most circumstances, collaboration is the primary style you should use for most goals in business-to-business negotiations. As mentioned briefly in the "Compete" section, if a relationship is important to you, there is a large amount of money at stake, or the other party needs to perform and not just exchange a standard product for cash, you are best advised to think about all the ways in which you can build a more trusting collaborative working relationship. If you need to understand the deeper interests or motivations of all nego- tiators, then collaboration is your best path. What's the Danger? Be careful not to collaborate with competitive-style negotia- tors—unless they agree to live up to your agreed (written or unwritten) rules of collaboration. For example, die-hard com- petitive negotiators can be treated in a transactional trading manner, e.g., "I'll only give you this if you give me that." Also keep in mind that when you share information, adhere to the balanced approach. Too much and you could be exploit- ed; too little and the other party can lock up like a clam. How to Defend If you find that it's not in your best interest to use a collab- orative style with a negotiator, decide on an alternative style. For example, there's a commodity supplier who suffers a great deal of competition in their marketplace and he's trying to get their foot in your door. A wise procurement manager will be careful not to invest too much time, or give any time unless there is value. Your time is short, so be careful who you col- laborate with. Moving Forward Before you negotiate, stop and ask yourself, "What is my pre- ferred style of negotiation?" Once you know your style, you've taken the first step to gaining flexibility in your negotiations. It's also important to determine which of these five styles best describe your business client or vendor negotiation relation- ship? You may find it useful to allocate a percentage score to each style, and then ask yourself whether you're happy with the current styles balance. If not, then make a plan to migrate to your preferred styles. Don't blindly apply one negotiation style to your negotia- tion. Work through your list of goals in your concession strat- egy and decide which issues are best to collaborate, compete, compromise, avoid or accommodate. Finally, there's seldom an escape from having to use a com- petitive style. At some point, you're going to need to do some claiming or sharing out the value you've created—so think carefully about when you need to switch to this tactic. If the other party competes too early, be prepared to pause the negotiation and have words ready to revert to another style.