Negotiation is the art and science of reaching an agreement that meets your and your client’s goals. Your goals also will act as your guide during the negotiation, supporting everything you say, every move you make and every agreement you reach. When you plan well, the process of achieving goals becomes easy and working on the strategy in advance ensure that you reach the goals that you and your company want to achieve. So negotiate it right for the success with these following tips: 

1. SMART formula: Set your goals using the SMART formula which implies that you’re your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.

2. Willingness to walk away: One of the biggest negotiating dangers is being too committed to gaining an agreement and being unduly pessimistic about what would happen if the negotiation fails. The willingness to walk away is the most powerful negotiation leverage you can have. You only will feel able to walk away, if you have something else to walk away to.

3. Evaluate your position: Specific goals for your negotiation can be called positions. Positions are simply your statement of what you need to get in order to accept the deal. You should take some time before the negotiation to document what you want to get, need to get and what would be nice to get out of the interaction. Writing down these positions will make them clear in your mind and will help you focus the discussion.

4. Play diplomatic: For example, your client may want to save face and you want to augment your reputation. You may want to avoid exposing conflict inside your own company and the client may want to avoid including certain colleagues in the process. During your preparation it is valuable to ask yourself what you and the client seek, and want to avoid.

5. Link yours goals to Customer goals: Linking your goals to the customer’s goals is a key to effective selling. A negotiated agreement is only profitable if it satisfies all parties. The best way to accomplish this mutually profitable relationship is to focus on finding the missing link between the objectives of you and your clients.

6. Set a bottom line: Setting a bottom line in advance of your negotiation is important because it makes it easier to resist the temptation of agreeing to an unprofitable deal. Setting a bottom line protects you from seller’s remorse and it makes it easier for others to participate in the negotiation with you because you can provide a framework for them to negotiate in. Be careful not to set your bottom line too high.

7. The trip wire: Your trip line is established to ensure you do not enter into agreements that you will later regret. Establish a trip wire by identifying an outcome that is slightly better than your willingness and bottom-line, but far from perfect. When a trip wire is triggered during a negotiation, commit to taking a break and thinking about the situation before accepting the deal.