Six Main Reasons Why Negotiations Fail

In Harvey Schachter’s article on The Globe and Mail, I shared my experience with the main reasons negotiations fail. Don’t make these common mistakes:

1. Lack of preparation
It’s vital you prepare externally, learning about market conditions, history, and other factors that might influence the deal. But you also need to prepare internally, knowing what your objectives and bottom line are. What are you willing to pay for this purchase? What will be the title and actual work of the person you intend to hire? If ill-prepared, externally or internally, you will likely stumble.
2. Ego
“Your goal should never be to win the negotiation,” Mr. Kupfer says, referring to the desire to be able to brag afterward about how you crushed the other side. Often, he finds, such negotiators fare poorly, winning the one point they obsess about and not noticing other areas where they are unsuccessful in gaining their objectives. And if you talk too much, stroked by ego, you could be giving away information you shouldn’t and are not listening to understand the other side’s points.
3. Fear
Negotiators often fear the new, uncertain or different world ahead and, again, avoid a deal that would be worthwhile. Mr. Kupfer cites an entrepreneur who kept thinking up reasons a deal that would double his business could end up hurting rather than helping him. The solution was to write down his fears, which showed they were minor, easily addressed, or unlikely.
Read the rest of the 6 on the full article.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

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