A Signed Contract is Just a Pause in the Negotiation Process

Some people think the negotiating process ends when a contract is signed. I strongly disagree. In many deals, the negotiating process really takes off?after?the signatures hit the paper.?

Think about it: after a contract goes into execution, any number of things can, and often do, happen. Change orders. Delayed deliveries. Raw material cost increases. Shipping cost hikes—or reductions. And many, many more variables that are either impossible to predict or purposely omitted from the initial negotiation.?

Truly understanding the science of negotiating begins with an understanding and appreciation of the full timeline of a negotiation. Quite often, a negotiation begins before you even realize it?is?one. There is the preliminary dialogue, and initial request. Testing the waters, introducing variables.?

Imagine you’re sitting at breakfast when your spouse asks, “Honey, are you going to be in the office all day?”?

“Yes,” you answer. “I’ve got a huge project I need to finish and introduce to my manager, so I be staying until that’s done.”?

Your spouse replies, “Great! Then you won’t be needing the car. I need it, so would you be a dear and take a cab to work? I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

In this situation you didn’t realize it when your spouse launched a negotiation. As it continued, you didn’t recognize if for what it was. When it was over, you didn’t spot it as a negotiating loss. Many events in our lives follow a remarkably similar pattern. Such ordinary exchanges of communication between people are not recognized as negotiations while they are in progress. But, when we look back and review them in light of a negotiation’s basic framework, the truth is plain to see. The same goes for all the varieties of post-contract negotiations mentioned earlier.?

I estimate that each of us, in the normal course of daily life, engage in between 8,000 and 10,000 negotiations every year. Are you prepared for them?

Your Success Begins and Ends at the Negotiation Table

In a recent study by World Commerce & Contracting, negotiation was identified as one of the phases professionals spend the most time on in the process of a deal. They invest far more time in the negotiation phase than the contracting phase. Surprisingly, though, I have witnessed a lack of executive focus, competence and formal training in negotiation science. Ask yourself, “Have I received adequate training in negotiation, or am I just winging it at the table?”

Yes, I’m sure you’ve read a book or two on the topic. Or, if you’re particularly ambitious, you’ve attended a training course. But is that sufficient??

Think about it this way: It is?at the negotiation table?that values are identified, created and distributed. Are you properly prepared to maximize those values??

My First Book on Negotiation was Rubbish

Back in 1998, I wrote and got my first book on negotiation. It was published in my native country of Denmark. I was very proud of that book. I thought I had written a masterpiece that would change the world of negotiation.?

Recently, a bit more than two decades later, I reread that 1998 book. I was deeply disappointed. My understanding and viewpoint on the subject had shifted so profoundly that I now felt the book and some of the conclusions it drew were largely rubbish. Next, I compared it to a couple of my more recent books and learned something important.?

The science of negotiation is not static, just as the worlds of business and politics are not static. They have not stood still, they have advanced. Some of the negotiation theory taught in 1998 may not be applicable to today’s world. New technology has appeared upon the stage, changing business, politics, and negotiation. Cultural changes have had their own impacts. The speed of communication and commerce has increased remarkably, market conditions and situations have evolved—I could go on and on.

Negotiation today is not the same as negotiation in 1998. And it can be said with certainty that it will not be the same in 2042 as it is today.?