Mater negotiators don’t become like that overnight. It’s a skill that they’re constantly developing and honing. Consider different solutions to negotiation challenges and you’ll realize that mastering the skill is a lot easier than you thought. If you want to master what is indeed the art of negotiation, there are some daily exercises you’ll have to go through in order to build up your repertoire.
Constant Enquiry
Wherever it is you go where something is up for sale, you need to enquire about the price. Even if one is clearly displayed, enquiring about whether that is indeed the “final” price will at the very least serve as an indicator of the possibility of negotiation. “How much do you want to give me for it?” is often a question that makes for some music to the ears of master negotiators because then they know that they can save some money.
What this constant enquiry does for you as well is it paints a much clearer picture of the true value of pretty much anything and everything, which is closer to what sellers are ultimately willing to sell for.
Feigning a Non-Interest in Buying
If you’re really interested in buying then feign a non-interest in buying. This will almost always land you the lowest possible price you can get for whatever it is you want and you can push your luck all the way. I swear – walk away if you have to and maybe come back a few short moments after you’ve been offered the “final-final, final” price. That’s how I was able to get a souvenir for a fifth of the initial dummy price, something which perhaps makes for a story for another post.
Broadening the scope of application
Just as is the case with pretty much every industry that sees many successes and many more failures, the difference between success and failure isn’t one which can be seen with glaring obviousness. The game isn’t won on the field, to make use of a professional sports analogy. Rather, it’s won behind the scenes where all the preparation takes place, such as in the boardrooms where top management holds its meetings, in the personnel transfer market where all types of employees are hired and let go, and on the practice field.
With this in mind it becomes imperative to broaden one’s scope of the application of their honed negotiation skills. It’s not exclusively about getting a better deal through hard-bargaining, but rather about the underlying ability you develop to be able to better assess value and formulate meaningful connections as well.
For example, if you do your special occasions shopping via an online birthday gifts store, a practice which would naturally afford you the advantage of being able to source the best value-for-money deals, whenever you find yourself in a situation wherein you’re presented with birthday gifts to buy in a specific physical location, you will be in a strong position to negotiate a better deal. This because you inherently know how much certain items in question should ordinarily cost. You will also know whether or not it isn’t better to just walk away and bide your time.
So it’s a continuous internal negotiation process which you don’t always have to articulate outwardly.