“Don’t you know how to buy in Bali?” was a question asked by a saleswoman who clearly had connections with the tattoo artists whose parlour I walked out of, bewildered at the dummy price he had quoted me. She was taking a shot at my negotiation skills (“buying” in Bali), but what she doesn’t know is that I’m quite the seasoned negotiator and that was merely a ploy to establish the real price of the tattoo I wanted, which I didn’t even go on to get.
This is one of the many reasons why it’s important to develop great negotiation skills if you’re in business, but it can also help with your personal finances.
You ensure to get value for your money
You ensure to get value for the money you want to spend. When you drive a hard bargain, you might sometimes be surprised at just how high the vendors are willing to go with their dummy prices, but once you get to the price they’re willing to settle for, you basically just uncover the true value of what you want to buy.
You build up a reputation
It’s a great reputation to have as someone who drives a hard bargain or just as someone who is a good negotiator. The reputation you build-up doesn’t necessarily have to paint you as a shrewd negotiator, but can rather have you known to be a good-natured person with whom people are happy to do business. Often people get negative reviews because they drive a ruthless negotiation. If that is your strategy so far, it won’t help you in the long run, and you should consider changing it. As for the reputation, you could hire a reputation management firm that could remove negative glassdoor reviews for you or your organization, essentially giving you a fresh start. This would allow you to build your reputation back up instead of having to do twice the work.
If you are a sales professional, your reputation and business growth may depend on your negotiation skills. If you are not confident enough to handle the negotiation part, you can look for soft-skill training courses. There are agencies like Scotwork that provide practical negotiation skill courses which you can take advantage of.
You save time and money
So as someone with a reputation of being a tough negotiator or a good natured person with whom to do business, you can save a lot of time and money. If you’re dealing with a prospective new supplier for instance, the reputation that precedes you might have them not even wanting to waste either of your time with stupidly high dummy prices, so you save time and since you’ll also be getting as close to the fair market price as possible, you will save money too.
You identify more opportunities
Some of the best negotiators who have a reputation for this valued skill don’t even end up running their own businesses. Rather, they are roped in by other establishments to fill the role of Chief Negotiator or something along those lines. So developing good negotiation skills can open you up to a whole other world of opportunity.
It can save your own business
Negotiation 101 speaks of many subjects which form part of the process, one of which is that of your suppliers. These people from whom you source your raw materials or primary supplies can save your business if you have the kind of negotiation skills which have you developing great relationships with them. For example, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to order supplies and only be required to pay after 90 days of taking up delivery of them? In the meantime you’re making sales and generating revenue and profit.