The fundamentals
Preparing a negotiation
The best negotiators are not the smoothest talkers, they are the best prepared. Preparation turns improvisation into method.
The preparation checklist
An ambitious target, a clear reservation price, and the order of priority between the issues.
My best alternative if this fails, and what I can do to improve it before the table.
Their likely interests, their constraints, their own BATNA and their deadlines.
The references (market price, precedent, standards) that will legitimise the agreement.
My first offer, my prepared concessions, and the counterpart required for each one.
Preparing is not scripting everything
You never fully control the exchange. But solid preparation gives you the composure to improvise without caving to pressure, or to the first number the other side throws out. You prepare in order to stay free, not to recite a script.
Sources
- Roger Fisher and William Ury, Getting to Yes (1981).
- G. Richard Shell, Bargaining for Advantage (1999): preparation as the pillar of performance.