STEP 3

Know the forces in play (Know your enemy).

Other way to explain this step is to assess the forces in play.  The forces in play during a negotiation must be analized in two point of views:

• Internal: you must take into consideration your strengths and your weaknesses
• External: look for the threats and the opportunities.

You must realize that during your negotiation you must be careful with your way to manage the dealing (your strengths and weaknesses), the "enemy" negotitation skills (the threats; and it must be managed by your strenghts to balance any weaknesses) and know the opportunities to put them by our side.

Three key points are involved:

• Who is on the side?  Try to know the strengths and weaknesses of the other person.  For example some kind of people prefer to have a meeting early in the morning and another ones during the last hours of the afternoon.  Choose your words and the way you are going to speak with the other people (your voice tone will be very different if you want a cost reduction or your are dealing with a quality problem).  Besides, if the forces in play are evaluated, you will be ready to ask for help when your dealing is in the offing of locked.

• What are my strengths and weaknesses? The most important points in order to prepare offensive and defensive options.  The first advice that I received when I started to negotiate with the suppliers was to be thinking in any moment the answers to the suppliers, be proactive and try to be one step ahead.

• What is my negotation power?  A volume increase, new products with potential productions, your verbiage, another supplier quotation or a problem converted into opportunity to get you desired cost reduction.

"A succesful negotiation borns from the principle of equality between the two parties".

Last sentence is typified in the American approach of "win-win".  The best agreement possible will be made when both negotiation parts earn something.  Regarding our job as buyers, we only win when you know how to negotiate more efficiently than the other, despite the relative equality with the "foe" (strenghts or opportunities).

If you are too weak, you will be defeated; if you are too powerful your opponent will be humiliated. On a level playing field, there is a posibility to have a win-win agreement.

Try to fullfill the following DAFO in order to know:

• strengths: things that make you powerful,
• weaknesses: things that make you weak,
• threats: things that can disturb/block your dealing ("sticks in the spokes"), and
• opportunities: things that can benefit your dealing.

There is not a best position or situation for this graphic.  The best situtation is when you have this elements properly identified and you are ready to manage with the threats and weaknesses taking advantage of strengths and opportunities.

What do you think?

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