How do you show negotiation success and impact?

1 Define your success criteria

Before you enter any negotiation, you should have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will evaluate your performance. Your success criteria should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, you might want to negotiate a higher salary, a better contract, or a more flexible work arrangement. Your success criteria should reflect your interests, needs, and priorities, as well as the standards and expectations of your industry, role, or situation.

2 Track your progress and outcomes

Once you have defined your success criteria, you should keep track of your progress and outcomes throughout the negotiation process. You can use various tools and methods to document and analyze your negotiation activities, such as spreadsheets, journals, feedback forms, surveys, or dashboards. You should also collect and organize any relevant data, evidence, or testimonials that support your negotiation results, such as sales figures, customer satisfaction ratings, project deliverables, or performance reviews.

4 Reflect and learn from your experience

Finally, you should reflect and learn from your negotiation experience, and identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges. You should evaluate your performance against your success criteria, and seek feedback from others who were involved or observed your negotiation. You should also recognize and celebrate your achievements, and acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of others. You should also identify and address any gaps or areas for improvement, and seek opportunities to develop and practice your negotiation skills further.

5 Showcase your negotiation portfolio

Creating and maintaining a negotiation portfolio is an effective way to demonstrate your negotiation success and impact. This portfolio should contain plans, strategies, outcomes, agreements, reports, summaries, feedback, evaluations, awards, recognitions, case studies, stories, testimonials, and references. This collection of documents can be used to showcase your negotiation skills and results in various situations such as when applying for a job or promotion, requesting a raise or bonus, pitching a project or proposal, negotiating a contract or deal, or building a network or partnership.

6 Update and improve your negotiation skills

To demonstrate your negotiation success and impact, you should regularly update and improve your negotiation skills. This involves staying up-to-date with the latest trends, best practices, and innovations in your field, industry, or sector. To do this, you can read books, articles, blogs, or podcasts on negotiation; take courses, workshops, webinars, or coaching sessions; join or form a negotiation club; participate in or organize simulations, competitions, or challenges; and seek or offer mentorship, guidance, or advice.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?