7 Steps to Negotiating Your Business Problems Away

If you're running a small business, technical problems can be easy to solve if you have the budget to buy a little expert help. But problems with clients aren't always that easy, especially if you don't see eye to eye.

Whether you're sorting out the client brief, chasing payment or have another issue, it's not always easy to get the outcome you want. But you can make it easier with this 7 step process. (It's the one I use myself.) Here's how it could work for you.

Phase 1: Talk to Yourself

1. Outline the situation– what is the real problem that you want to solve? Usually when things go wrong, there are a lot of issues, but there's usually one major aspect that's keeping you awake. It is important to identify that before you move onto the next step.
2. Decide on the preferred outcome. If it's about payment, obviously you want to get all the money that is coming to you. If it’s about managing client relations then perhaps you want to get your point across and accepted without actually losing the client. You will know how your ideal outcome will look.
3. Decide on the minimum outcome you will settle for. Sure, you want what you want, but if you can't get it, what will work? Maybe you want a graceful exit without anyone badmouthing anyone else. Or maybe you want to get enough of the bill paid for you to meet your own financial commitments. Decide on your floor before you move to step four.
4. Script some possible conversationsor email drafts, noting the key points you want to make, thinking about possible comebacks from the client or customer and working out your counter arguments. But also think about what will make the other person happy – if you each get something you want, the negotiation is likely to go better.

Phase 2: Negotiate and Resolve

1. Confront the personor issue, making sure to keep calm and to work through the points you outlined in step 4. If possible avoid responding to provocation and stick to your own agenda.
2. Walk awayand leave the other person time to consider what you have said. However, make sure that you set a deadline for resolution of the issue. You don't want it to fester for weeks.

Phase 3: Talk to Yourself Again

1. Once the issue is resolved (even if it’s not your ideal resolution) let it go. But before you do, do a post mortemto work out how you could have changed things to achieve a different outcome. Use that as the basis for putting new procedures in place to keep client relations smoother in the future.

I’ve used this procedure effectively to change the parameters of working with particular clients, to switch them to new services or even to end a client relationship amicably. Sometimes those same clients have even come back later to offer other kinds of work. That’s a win, in anyone’s book.

How do you negotiate with clients when things go wrong? Share your tips below.

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Image source: Pixabay