Masonry Magazine October 1996 Page. 19
Negotiating Parties Are Interdependent
Negotiating partners might go out of their way to assure us that we need them more than they need us. What a great negotiating strategy! The more we are convinced that we have the weaker side in the negotiation, the greater the probability is that we will relinquish too much value in the process. How can we ever get to win/win when we have to give up too much in an attempt to cover what we think is a weak negotiating position? Win/win negotiating, by definition, means the contractor also has to receive equitable value.
Convincing the other party that they have the weakest hand in this card game is nothing more than a strategy. Similar to maintaining a poker face after pulling in an inside straight-if they knew you had this hand they would not wage high stakes. All that is happening is they are trying to get you to fold your hard. Although it is not the best means of ensuring a win/win outcome, many people will use this strategy to get the negotiations started.
The key is to keep your eye on your objective and not get swayed with the tactics being played on you. Have you ever had someone start negotiations by saying, "I think it is a wast of time to talk to you since we have another contractor with a lower number?" Train your mind to think, "What an interesting opening position," and leave it at that. Remember, it is just a strategy.
A number of negotiators may want to start negotiations in a hardball, winner-takes-all stance. For some it is because that is all they know. Think about how many role models the average industry manager has had on creating win/win outcomes to negotiations? Not many.
Defending yourself against hard-ball tactics is essential. The objective is to defend your position and deliberately bring the conversation back to a win/win outcome. Just because the other side is playing hardball does not mean you need to. You can stay focused on the win/win and still get equitable value for both sides. There will, however, be times when win/win is not possible.
When dealing with tough negotiators with a very short timeline, converting to the win/win is challenging at best.
Long-term relationships, prevalent in our industry, are the foundation for win/win negotiating. Since we deal with clients, other contractors, and vendors that will be around for years to come, contractors need to be focused on setting up successful negotiations for the long-term.
Cutting a tough, winner-takes-all, negotiating deal today with an owner can be risky. They have a number of opportunities to seek retribution-if not on this job, then on a future project. Or perhaps they will use their influence with other possible owners placing you in the position of overcoming a rugged reputation in order to get a job.
Our industry is a fairly tight circle of influence. Designers that work for an architect/engineer today could work for a government agency tomorrow. Any contractor that we work with may, in the future, form a strategic alliance with an owner. Or an employee that is working for you today may tomorrow be in a position to influence your organization getting a job in the future. You can never be certain of who is influencing and where that next job is coming from. Win/win negotiation sets up a long-term, productive relationship while protecting your immediate interests.
Negotiating for Success
Negotiating skills should not be saved for your dealings with a client. Bottom-line, negotiating is a skill set that defines ideal outcomes and builds the commitment of all sides of the conversation to the win/win ideal. Negotiating is a strategy that works effectively with owners, architects/engineers, other contractors, and vendors. Employee interactions benefit from good negotiating skills as well. Think about the last "heart-to-heart" chat you had with an employee. Perhaps the outcome was directed at positive changes, like getting to work on time, or learning new skills. Negotiation skills give us the structure and format that allows conversations to side step the confrontation trap and get to a win/win outcome.
Looking to the Future
To be highly successful, learn to negotiate for elements of value other than money. Learn to negotiate with funny money. Money only negotiations too frequently are framed on confrontation and winner-take-all outcomes. Funny money lets us give our negotiation partner value without having to write them a check or
Continued on page 20
MASONRY-SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1996 19