You're negotiating with a difficult client. How do you assert yourself while meeting their needs?

Listen actively to their concerns to show understanding and empathy. Clearly articulate your position and boundaries with confidence. Offer solutions that address their needs while protecting your interests. Stay calm and professional, focusing on collaboration rather than confrontation.

It can be easy to start problem solving during the process of listening. You hear a fact and you start thinking of solutions or ways in which you may sell your product to the other side based on what they've just said. The problem here is that you are problem-solving only on limited information. They are still talking so there much be more to learn. Not only that, but if you are thinking these things while they are speaking, you are likely to be listening more closely to your own internal voice than to what they are saying. The old advice of Stephen Covey still rings true - "seek first to understand". Make your focus listening to everything the other side has to say, share everything you need to say and then move to problem solving.

Good preparation is the best way to improve your ability to stay calm. The more prepared you are, not just having your information prepared, but also planning your negotiation strategy, the more calm and confident you can be. And don't underestimate the power of role playing the negotiation before the real event. This could be with a colleague or just with yourself in the mirror!

This is always a tough one because emotions run high during a disagreement. I try to put myself in their shoes. Think about how whatever it is that we are discussing will affect them and their organization. If they are passionate/angry, there is a good reason for it. Figure out what that is and speak to it. Stay calm, don't take it as a personal attack even if it seems to be so. Find out what the real reason for the outrage is and work on finding a place that everyone can agree on as the most important factor. Solutions are everywhere but you need to see the problem and solve for it rather than the one you may have originally set out to fix.

Negotiating with a difficult client can be challenging, especially when you hit a snag. Here’s how you can assert yourself while still meeting their needs by offering solutions: - Acknowledge Their Concerns: Show that you understand the client’s needs and frustrations to build rapport. - Present Multiple Options: Offer several solutions to demonstrate flexibility and willingness to collaborate. - Highlight Benefits: Clearly articulate how each solution meets their needs and benefits both parties. - Be Prepared with Data: Support your solutions with relevant data and evidence to strengthen your position. - Stay Firm on Key Points: Assertively stand by your essential terms while showing openness to adjust less critical aspects.

Every person has a dominant communication style & type, so communication must be tailored to address each individuals prototype. More importantly, negotiators need to know the difference between "persuasion", and "influence", so that they can assess, and easily shift from one style of communication to the other, where and when appropriate. Asserting yourself in a "persuasive" way, can often push a difficult counterparts buttons, and cause reactions that stall, or shut down communication, and progress. But asserting yourself using "influence" eliminates that reaction & promotes communication and progress. Learn the difference from the book: Beyond Negotiating: Influence Rapport Results, where these two elements are thoroughly covered.

Formal preparation really is essential and will enable you to deal with a problematic or complex negotiation; 1 - Understand in detail what you are trying to achieve and the product or service being discussed 2 - Fully comprehend the power in the dynamics - what leverage does either party have 3 - What has worked in the past when engaging your counterpart? 4 - Try and understand what is important to your counterpart. What are the carrots and sticks you can provide? 5 - Present your approach and options internally - this gets 3rd party input as well as authorization to make a deal (and thus maintaining a degree of power) 6 - Consider individuals who can support your negotiation Never "wing" a negotiation - no matter your experience