How can you uncover your negotiating partner’s motives?
Negotiation
Perspectives from experts on the questions that matter to improve your negotiation skills.
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One of the key skills for effective negotiation is identifying the interests and desired outcomes of your negotiation partner. Understanding what your partner wants and why they want it can help you to generate mutually beneficial options and avoid impasses and deadlocks.
However, identifying the desired outcome of your negotiation partner is not always easy or obvious, especially when they may not be fully aware of it themselves, or when they may conceal it for various reasons. Here are some key strategies you can apply to elicit your negotiating partner’s desired outcome.
Ask open-ended questions
One of the most direct ways to identify the desired outcome of your partner is to ask them questions that invite them to explain their position and demands. You can ask: "What is your main objective in this negotiation? Why is that important to you? What are the benefits or consequences of achieving or not achieving that? How would that affect your situation or stakeholders?"?
Asking open-ended questions can help you to uncover the underlying assumptions, expectations and constraints that shape their desired outcomes. It can also help you avoid any misunderstandings or confusion.
Listen actively
Listen attentively to what your negotiating partner says and how they say it. Active listening means paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues, such as the tone, volume or gestures that indicate their level of confidence, frustration or satisfaction.?
Make sure you acknowledge the other party’s feelings and show genuine curiosity, respect and appreciation. You can say, "I can see that you are very passionate about this issue. Can you tell me more about what it means to you?” Or, “I appreciate your willingness to share your concerns with me. How can we address them together?"?
Listening actively and empathically can help you build rapport and trust with your partner and identify their hidden interests or needs.
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Use the "why-why" or "ladder of inference" technique
Another way to identify the desired outcome of your partner is to use a technique that helps you trace the logic behind their position. One such technique is the "why-why" technique, which involves asking "why" repeatedly until you reach the root cause or motive of your negotiating partner’s desired outcome.?
Another technique is the "ladder of inference" technique, which involves mapping the levels of reasoning that your partner uses to reach their desired outcome, and examining the evidence, assumptions and beliefs that support or contradict each step or level.?
For example, if your partner says they want a longer contract term, you can map their ladder of inference as follows:
Use BATNA
By using the "best alternative to a negotiated agreement" (BATNA), you can compare your partner’s desired outcome with other possible outcomes. BATNA will help you identify the best course of action or outcome that your partner can pursue if you fail to reach an agreement.?
Knowing your partner's BATNA can help you estimate their reservation point, which is the lowest or highest value or result that they are willing to accept or offer in a negotiation.
For example, if your partner's BATNA is to sell their product to another buyer at a lower price, you can infer that their desired outcome is to sell their product to you at a higher price, and that they might be more open to compromise than they appear to be.
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This article was edited by LinkedIn News Editor Anamaria Silic and was curated leveraging the help of AI technology.
Founder of M.C. Sales consulting. Former EVP of sales at GreenGrowth CPAs
2 年Engage with the intent to simply learn rather than problem-solving. I use a lot of "relationship advice" when it comes to business as in the end we are all just human and being able to connect 1:1 via zoom, phone, or in person all require a different muscle to be flexed, but ultimately I follow standard "dating" advice and read new thoughts on the subject often...many are too basic, but if you constantly learn and seek out advice, something will stick and then you practice practice practice. At the end of the day, if you can break the barrier and learn anything personal, you are making progress. I chuckle a bit as I write this as I am prob the easiest person to sell to, you can learn part of my life story in a 30 min zoom, but it prob just b/c I want to make it easier for the other party to see what my motivations are and IF they can really help or fill a need.
CEO/Operations Manager/Expert Witness
2 年An interesting subject matter for sure! At the onset, I would research the individual with whom I was scheduled to negotiate with. All the great historical negotiators first started by knowing the opposition well. After my due diligence on that matter, I would head to You Tube to see if there were any videos of this person, which by the way, everyone seems to have recorded something at some juncture of their life. I would try to pick up any body language or thoughts that they expressed which would give me foresight into how they would interact with me...next I would do my research and offense/defense of my position and create and plan which hopefully would end successfully!
CEO | Speaker | Certified Contracts Expert | AI Certified Consultant helping Leaders with Government Contracts, Training & Strategies
2 年Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts. These are all great suggestions. I would add to remember to never take the relationship for granted. You are in a constant state of learning more about the other party. Be open to new information that might change key elements of your approach, during negotiations and during project performance. Don't assume people have access to the same information or systems that you do, even if the systems are interoperable. Be clear on the goals, objectives, data needed, and desired outcome. Do these things match the contract terms? Will you be able to perform in the environment the customer expects you to, based on the pricing structure and tasks identified in the contract? Once there is mutual agreement on the terms and requirements, go back and review any changes. Make sure there is a fair allocation of risks between the parties. Clarify if any agreed upon changes require a revised project schedule or prices. Always #negotiate price last.
Supply Chain Executive, Educator and Author
2 年I am a staunch believer and user of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques). While there are many NLP techniques to uncover your negotiating partner's motives, I recommend using the following: (1.) Task is to find your client's reality and match it with your goal. (2.) Building Rapport utilizes the matching and mirroring process to understand another person's world, thoughts, and feelings. This process involves matching or mirroring another person's body language, voice words, gestures, etc. You may also check nonverbal communication, eye contact, etc. Thanks Mel Sillmon
President & CEO at Argus Community, Inc.| PhD, Operations Expert, Turnaround Specialist, Innovator
2 年I believe the key is active listening. Not listening to respond. However, listening to catch key phrases and words that convey what is valuable to the other person. I recently experienced that when during negotiations it seemed fairness was a key concept but it turned out it was something entirely different. I gugured it out by catching a word they said very quickly. Listen. Listen for key words and what values are being expressed.