SAP vs. Muhammad Ali: Limits and Benefits of Trading Consulting

When talking about the negotiation advisory niche, you have to analyze the limits and benefits of said service without judging. Here I can only start from my own daily consulting work and what I have experienced and from this point of view I can make an evaluation suggestion.

What do you do?" "I'm a negotiation and conflict coach." "Oh, I thought most people in professional life are good at negotiating." That's how, or something like that, the introduction rounds begin at my daily life From then on, we talk about the different facets of negotiation and the dangers of complex negotiations: the interlocutor's eyes widen and reveal an increase in knowledge.

What good trading advice should be able to do

In negotiations there are four decisive factors for a successful outcome: your own mindset, adequate preparation, extensive practice and managing emotions. All good trading advice should start with these four levers. It is a fallacy to think that just one of the four is enough to negotiate better deals. Imparting knowledge is the necessary first step, but the learning effect will fade if a "learning schedule" is not established in which participants can acquire new knowledge about themselves over a longer period of time, apply it in a safe environment and Learning progress is documented.

The second big mistake you can make when preparing for negotiations is to limit yourself exclusively to thematic preparation. Game theory analyzes of different scenarios and moves can be incredibly helpful depending on the situation. But they are not a panacea. You have to prepare just as meticulously for the people at the table (teaming, roles, profiling), for the process (goals, strategies and tactics, timing, location, messages) and for dealing with emotions.

Not practicing critical situations before sitting down to the negotiating table can ruin even the best preparation. Critical situations in this case would be, for example, the other person's objections and accusations and one's own reaction to them, taking into account the other person's different strategies and tactics, and one's own responses that avoid a defensive signal effect.

Preparation, mental and preparatory work is the foundation of success, but negotiation tips should also be used at the table. As the lead negotiator, you must consider a variety of factors. Something falls behind. A negotiation coach will help you analyze the negotiation at the meta level and suggest corrections in time. A neutral support can make it easier for you to manage difficult emotions and intervene mediately in case of escalations.

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How to Benefit from Negotiation Consulting

The degree to which you benefit from good negotiation advice naturally depends on your own willingness to accept ideas and advice. You will notice immediate financial success very quickly. Despite the tough negotiations, trade relations are not in danger, but rather strengthened. As long as you don't negotiate unfairly, no business partner will be offended if you stand up for what you urgently need.

Concluding financially better deals is just one way to benefit from negotiation consulting. In my opinion, the most important thing is that, as an organization, you have the opportunity to improve. There are consultancies that are similar to SAP systems: once in-house, you can't get rid of them. This is something to take into account when choosing the right advice. It is most effective if the counseling is concerned with training the employees of the client company in good negotiation skills. But this is not done with training, because the effect of training wears off relatively quickly. More effective is a knowledge support combined with higher education and counselling, together with the active support of the main negotiators.

It is also important that the consultation helps the company establish individual trading standards. This includes, among other things, the development of preparatory checklists or standard operating procedures for contingencies, but also company-specific guidelines on how to do business in-house, which can ensure that the level of business-wide trading is raised at a uniform level. level.

The last word of caution should be used when imparting knowledge. Care must be taken to ensure that "standard knowledge" is not imparted, but that the counseling is capable of individually adapting the knowledge to the target group.

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What Bargaining Councils Can't Do

In the case of the previously mentioned active accompaniment of the negotiator himself, it is sufficient to accompany and intensively train an employee or manager in two negotiations. This, along with company-specific rules, often leads to a greater competitive gain. If this does not happen, one may worry whether the person is really capable of conducting successful negotiations. If a negotiation consultancy covers the critical position of the negotiator with its own employees, the client loses the opportunity to improve himself. Once the consultants are gone, you can say goodbye to the know-how. Opt to train with Muhammad Ali instead of adopting SAP.

Another critical issue for success is that, as a customer, you must go the last mile yourself. A consultancy can offer ideas and advice, but sparring must be autonomous. Even if negotiating skills are sold with marketing slogans like "Ninja knowledge", "Negotiate like taking hostages" or the like, the change to samurai has to be done by yourself. Therefore, in my opinion, negotiation is not an art, but a craft. You can learn it from scratch and improve through experience, reflection, and outside help. If you have talent, it may go faster. But not having one doesn't mean you can't become a highly successful negotiator: the road gets harder and harder.

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Where the journey will go

When we talk about the future of deal advice, a trend that is already used in practice will intensify: small-volume deals will be computer-supported and executed fully automatically. People skills will be even more critical, as people will only negotiate on the essentials. If these negotiations are not concluded successfully, the consequences will be enormous. At the same time, IT will find its way much more in the preparatory phase, in the preparation of the issues, but also in the negotiating partner.

Ultimately, I hope the Negotiator Score, which allows you to see a person's negotiation skills at a glance, will gain acceptance. Not because we at I&P have developed one, but because a high level of negotiation skills is crucial in critical professions like purchasing. And this is not sufficiently clarified in job interviews.

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ISMAN & Partner is a management consultancy that supports national and international corporations, medium-sized companies and start-ups, organizations and institutions in complex processes of negotiation and conflict resolution. Founded in 2015 by Calin-Mihai Isman, negotiation and mediation experts support managers and employees in sales, purchasing, M&A, recruitment, human resources or IT.

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