Nobody wants a negotiation to fail or a business deal to fall apart, but sometimes despite even the best efforts, it does happen. There are a number of reasons why a business deal might go bad. Understanding the reasons negotiations fail may help a negotiator to avoid common pitfalls. Typical causes of negotiation failure include fear of risk, lack of trust, poor planning and failure to listen. Through negotiation and influence training, you can reduce these effects. Fear of Risk Every negotiation involves an element of risk. This, along with uncertainty about overall outcomes can cause fear. Worry over the possibility of missing out on a better deal or of leaving something on the table is just one way fear can halt a negotiation in its tracks. Since the outcomes of some negotiations have the potential to be life-altering, people may wish to avoid risk and derail the negotiation process as a result. It is important to recognize and acknowledge this risk, however. Lack of Trust Fear can also manifest itself as a lack of trust between the parties involved in a negotiation. If one party doesn’t trust the other, or trust the negotiator, it makes it difficult for parties to agree on terms. It can also make parties unwilling to discuss them at all. It is important to build rapport and develop trust between parties to facilitate a successful negotiation. Poor Planning Entering a negotiation without preparation is risking defeat or a less than optimal negotiation result. A good negotiator needs to be prepared for all potential objections, questions and offers, whether the offer is acceptable or not. A negotiator with inaccurate or incomplete information, or who expects to rely solely on intuition, will likely end up with poor results. The negotiator may be forced to accept steeper concessions, if any agreement can be reached at all. Failure to Listen If you aren’t able to clearly identify each party’s priorities, you’ll likely be unable to devise an outcome that can be agreed upon by all. It is important to listen and identify both individual priorities as well as any shared priorities between parties. If parties seem unable to agree, it is vital that the negotiator takes a step back and determines the heart of the disagreement. Focus on a preferred outcome instead of simply reiterating starting positions. Listening to what both parties want and identifying a clear way to reach these preferred outcomes can help put a stalled negotiation swiftly back on track.

Misconceptions and myths about negotiation abound, just as they do in any trade. Blind belief in several of the main negotiation myths can ultimately harm a negotiation and prevent the process from being successful. Some common myths include the belief that negotiators are born, that they rely on intuition, that they can’t be nice, and that it isn’t possible for everyone in a negotiation to win. People Are Born Great Negotiators We’ve all heard this myth, yet it is rarely, or perhaps never, true. The art of negotiation is one that can be learned and is not a skill only a select few are born with. The best negotiators are those who get feedback and practice their skills. Education and social environment can have a great impact on negotiation skills. Formal classes and other kinds of negotiationtraining can also help skills develop. Even if people have different levels of initial capability when it comes to negotiation, everyone has the potential to become a better negotiator. Negotiators Rely Solely on Intuition Negotiators who rely solely on intuition are taking big risks that are unlikely to pay off in the end. The best negotiators walk into negotiations with a plan. Having done their research, they are able to have objective data and/or ideas from independent, expert consultants to help in successful negotiation. This kind of planning means the negotiator has already played out the negotiation scenario in his or her head. A negotiator who plans rather than relies on intuition is better able to counter objections and offer evidence leading to a more desired outcome than the negotiator who simply wings it. Preparation isn’t optional; it is necessary. Nice Negotiators Finish Last Another common myth is that to be a successful negotiator, you must be very aggressive and perhaps even mean. This isn’t true in the least. The best negotiators are those who communicate effectively; if you are argumentative and aggressive, people may find it difficult to do business with you. It is often easier for parties to agree with someone they find personable and agreeable. While you don’t want to be too soft and make it easy for one party to have an unfair advantage in the negotiation, you don’t want to be too hard either, as this may cause someone to resist concessions simply because he or she is put off by your personality. Someone Always Loses in Negotiation Like the rest of these common myths, the idea that all negotiations end up with a loser in the end is untrue. Not all negotiations are win-lose scenarios. The best negotiations end as win-win situations, where both parties feel as though they’ve come out of it with an agreement they are pleased with. A negotiation is not a game to be won, but rather it is a process both parties engage in to achieve individually desired goals or outcomes.

It is easy to lead during periods of prosperity, but what happens when you run into a rut? When you need to rebound from tough economic times, there are a number of strategies that will help you successfully lead your team through the storm. From taking risks and reassessing your goals to believing in both yourself and your team, these strategies will put you back on the course to success. Take risks. Economic hardship will likely trigger a fear of failure. The worst thing you can do, however, is allow that fear to hold you back. Instead, take risks during difficult times. By doing so, you are trying absolutely everything to overcome the obstacles. As they say, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Believe in yourself. Another important strategy for getting through rough patches is to believe in yourself. As the leader of your business, it is vital that your employees believe in you, and they will only do so if you believe in yourself. While tough economic times might lead you to doubt yourself, remember that you should be a strong leader for your company. Rally your team. The next step of rebounding when your business is weak is to rally your team. Your team is your most critical asset, and to succeed, you must prepare them to work through the bad times. Encourage your team by giving credit where credit is due - employees always appreciate being recognized. Be flexible. It is especially important to stay flexible throughout financial challenges. Even if you are not currently meeting your goals, or if you have veered from the path you set out on, your business still has the potential for success. Being flexible means being willing to change your plan and your goals as a means of rolling with the punches. Reassess your goals. Flexibility leads to reassessing goals. For example, you may have been hoping to reach a certain number in sales this quarter, but difficult financial times are holding you back. Rather than struggling to meet an unattainable goal, reassess what goals are truly important to your business. Form strategic partnerships. Forming strategic partnerships can keep your business afloat during times when business is weak. By partnering with others in your industry, you increase the strength of your business and gain a trusted ally to help you reach your most important goals.  

The modern business environment is fast paced and high stress. However, there is a new practice that is becoming increasingly popular with top companies and competitive business schools that can cut stress, improve focus, and make you a more effective leader. What is this new habit transforming the corporate world? It isn’t a new habit at all, but rather a timeless practice derived from eastern traditions - mindfulness or meditation. Mindfulness and meditation offer a variety of benefits for business leaders, helping improve focus, energize leadership, and even improve physical health by reducing the deleterious effects of work-related stress. More Mindful = Less Stress One of the primary reasons that meditation and mindfulness are being introduced into business environments is that they are valuable for reducing both physical and emotional stress. In part, this reduced stress is a factor of setting aside time to clear away all thoughts of work, but there are other factors at play here as well. For example, one common factor in meditation and mindfulness practices includes control of the breath. Taking just a few deep breaths and focusing on that process can ease the effects of mental strain and interpersonal conflict. Other meditation activities, such as guided meditations or progressive muscle relaxation work to guide your body through a series of states or scenes that are intended to relieve stress. Get Some Perspective  As a business leader, one of the most valuable skills that meditation and mindfulness can hone is the ability to take the perspective of others. Business leaders who practice these skills find they are more open-minded and more empathetic. Being able to fully take on the perspective of another can help professionals to lead their team towards the best decisions, reduce intra-group tensions, and come to an informed consensus. Businesspersons who are only able to see a problem from their point of view work at a disadvantage to those who can mindfully embrace a range of viewpoints. Time for a Change  Perhaps the real common denominator for all businesses today is that the world is changing rapidly. The constant turnover and shifting balance of the business arena can be unsettling and a major challenge for some to meet. Those who practice meditation and mindfulness have been found to be better able to adapt to this rapid pace of change. In part, this is a feature of radical acceptance - leaders with mindfulness experience are able to accept that the world is one way in one moment and another way in the next moment. When things change, these flexible leaders are there to change with them, keeping adaptive corporations ahead of the curve.

Using a virtual environment for leadership and corporate sales training has a proven success rate, but some still question whether it adequately communicates the necessary leadership qualities. Making sure communication, trust, and management skills are properly taught is necessary to achieve success. If you think your company is ready to take negotiation training into a virtual environment, we have some tips and ideas to ensure you accomplish your goals: Give information in chunks. When a person opens a website or a training page that is stuffed with text, they are immediately intimidated. Even if the text is simple and refers to interesting concepts, the sheer volume of words on one page can discourage people. By presenting the information in smaller portions, a few topics per page, with slightly larger font and more white space, it makes readers more receptive. Use images correctly. Images are great for drawing the viewer’s attention and emphasizing a point. Too many images, however, cause a page to look crowded and make it difficult for the reader to not become distracted. When inserting images into a training document or slideshow, make certain they are tasteful and relevant instead of random images that only serve the purpose of breaking up text. Make sure the speaker’s voice is audible. One of the most insufferable parts of an online class or online training session is when the teacher or instructors voice is too hard to hear. It’s audible when all is quiet and still, but the slightest noise can cause you to miss an important piece of information. Often, the problem is not due to any sort of technological glitch but rather the volume of the speaker’s voice. When this is the case, the simplicity of fixing the problem and the fact that it hasn’t been corrected are a mark against a company. It is important to ensure when conducting or preparing negotiation training that all technical volume issues are worked out and the speaker is projecting at an appropriate volume. Ensure the speaker is understandable. If the instructor giving the training has a hard to understand accent or speaks quickly or with any type of speech impediment, it causes numerous problems with negotiation training. As with volume control, making sure the audience can hear and understand what they are being told is imperative to successful virtual training. Clarity is one of the more important aspects of negotiation training. The instructor should be an effective speaker. Being an effective speaker and communicator is more than proper enunciation and speaking volume. It involves communicating a sense of authority and assurance to the audience. By lowering the pitch of his or her voice, a speaker impresses upon the listeners a sense of power and trustworthiness. Similarly, modulating the tone and pitch of one’s voice leads to a more engaging presentation. By following these tips and being aware of feedback from audiences, your company will greatly improve the efficiency of its virtual negotiations training sessions.

A UCLA study shows that 93% of communication is non-verbal, and nearly 40% of it has to do with tone of voice. To negotiate well, speakers must practice their vocal tones to project a positive image both in person and over the phone. To achieve the desired pitch and tone, here are a number of methods a person can employ while practicing their speeches: Sit up straight: Keeping proper posture expands the diaphragm and loosens the throat muscles, ensuring proper airflow. This allows your voice to resonate more than if you sit slumped or with your head down. Use your abdominal muscles  When you inhale, breathe in low so you can feel your abdominal muscles expanding. When you speak and exhale, expand your abdominals so the air doesn’t only come from your throat. This increases the volume and strength of your voice to give a more powerful sound. While you may not be talking like James Earl Jones or Michael Clarke Duncan, you will certainly have a more impressive sound. Eliminate nasality People who have a naturally more nasal voice tend to be less impressive in the boardroom or around the negotiating table. If your voice has a nasal quality, it is because the air is escaping through your nose when you speak and not exiting through your mouth. To practice changing this, feel the difference between the positioning of your tongue and mouth while practicing different sounds. For a more nasally sound, keep your tongue on or close to the roof of your mouth. Lowering the tongue will simultaneously allow more air to escape through your mouth instead of your nose. Practice your accent  If you speak with an accent that is naturally more difficult to understand, then try modifying it slightly to connect better with your audience. People respond with more enthusiasm when a speaker sounds familiar, as they feel a subconscious kinship with him or her. Make use of this curious quirk of human nature, and if possible, modify your voice to sound more similar to that of your audience. Lower your pitch Persons with naturally low voices are generally perceived as more powerful and more trustworthy than those with higher pitched voices. Sean Connery, Morgan Freeman, and Clint Eastwood all speak in lower registers and are all famous for playing strong characters. Morgan Freeman is particularly noted for playing characters that sound sincere and trustworthy. By strengthening your voice and sounding more powerful, you will portray the appearance of authority. Cultivating your tone and timbre will allow you to communicate beneath and through the words you use, leaving a much deeper impression on your audience.

Performance reviews play an integral role in the success of any business, helping both employees and management to assess strengths and weaknesses and target areas for growth and skill development. One critical skill that is often overlooked by performance reviews, however, is negotiation. Rather than assessing negotiation, many companies subsume the skill under such headings as "persuasiveness," "emotional intelligence," or overall "effectiveness," while others overlook the rubric altogether. At the same time, many companies are establishing negotiation training or influencing training programs. How can a business assess the success of such programs when they fail to review employee negotiation skills as part of their central performance review process? Identify Negotiating Styles When businesses fail to properly address and assess negotiation skills, they put themselves, their employees, and their business at a disadvantage. Negotiation takes place continuously throughout professional life, not only when trying to close the biggest deals. One key part of assessing negotiation skills is to determine the negotiating style of each employee. By naming negotiating styles, management is able to quickly sketch out a general model of each employee’s negotiation skills and weaknesses. One employee may have a distributive style, working hard to make sure each side receives as much of what they want out of negotiation as possible, while another may be conciliatory, able to close the deals, but often giving too much away. Knowing and naming different types of negotiation styles is the first step towards establishing a long-term review process. Establish Skill Development Benchmarks  Of course, companies cannot simply institute negotiation as part of the performance review process without preparing their employees. When adding negotiation to the performance review process, employers should start by establishing and explaining negotiation benchmarks for their individual company. What skills are expected of each employee when it comes to negotiating a deal? This can be a great time to perform negotiation training because the process can allow management to mark the level of negotiating skill an employee already possesses, providing a starting point for measuring growth as a negotiator over time. Creating Great Negotiators  The best negotiators know how to manage differences in ideas and values, make exchanges that increase value for the company overall, and focus on the overall goal of the negotiation without losing sight of the needs and desires of the client. These negotiators come prepared, communicate clearly, and continuously add value for their company through the negotiation process. These skills are within the reach of any employee with the proper training and oversight. For business success, now is the time to embrace negotiation skills as a central part of the performance review process.

Improve your standing and influence at the next round of negotiations! Experienced negotiators know the words a person says around the negotiation table are far less important than how those words are delivered. They recognize that body language can play a huge role in how negotiations go, and have noted that skilled negotiators work hard to present a confident, charismatic picture. People are hardwired to react to visual cues, and understanding how to appear confident and strong goes a long way in negotiation. Some visual cues have become well known, such as crossed arms indicating a closed-off person. A few of the other cues that may prove useful in negotiations are listed and explained in more detail below: Stand up straight and take up space.  Keeping your back straight and your head up is the best way to send a message of self-assurance and alertness. By taking up space, you send a message of authority and power to those around you. Learning to project authority is an important part of negotiation training. While standing or giving a presentation, move around to make your physical presence larger and keep your stance wide while standing still. Keep a wide stance Keeping your feet spread apart and your body weight centered will give others the impression of your power and confidence. You will appear solid and steady, and no matter the situation, others will perceive you as being at ease. Maintain eye contact  While too much eye contact can be seen as somewhat unnerving, it is always better to make frequent and intentional eye contact with your audience. Whether negotiating with a group of people or only one person, make and keep eye contact, especially when explaining key issues or important points. Use positive hand gestures  Most people, when giving a presentation or explaining an issue, use their hands to illustrate the point. Whether this is by keeping track of listed points by counting them on their fingers or by using hand motions to simulate the actions of what is being discussed, hand movements are often underappreciated. When negotiating, it is important to use positive hand gestures while eschewing any nervous ticks or habitual hand movements that take away from your power image. For example, folding your hands together in a pleading fashion is a nervous habit some employ to stop their hands from shaking. Steepling your fingers, however, sends the message that what you are about to say is of vast importance, and makes you seem more calm and collected. Smile  Smiling is the easiest way to put another person at ease and will often make you more memorable in a positive light. This is because smiling at a person usually leads to their smiling back at you, and the act of smiling often triggers happy feelings. By smiling at someone you can make them feel happy, which will in turn cause them to associate those happy feelings with seeing you. Lower your vocal pitch People with higher pitched voices may often be seen as more nervous and less powerful than those who speak in a lower register, and are thus viewed as less empathetic and not as trustworthy. Consider, for example, the voice of James Earl Jones. Any character played by him in film instantly becomes viewed as a powerful force with which to be reckoned. By employing these non-verbal cues, you will improve your standing and influence at the next round of negotiations. You can quickly transform from a mere observer of negotiations to the most powerful person in the room based simply on your body language.

The World Cup is the largest sporting event on the planet and has been dominating conversation for the past few weeks. The event has drawn soccer teams (football teams in the rest of the world) together from all over the world to determine which country has the best team. However, we can learn more from the World Cup than which soccer team is the best. There are three important business lessons to be found in this year’s World Cup. 1. Embrace change: FIFA, the organization responsible for the World Cup, managed to incorporate the use of technology in a way that was not possible in previous Cups and increased fan involvement on a tremendous scale. By utilizing mobile technology to promote the games, FIFA was able to get the greatest access to the largest number of fans. The number of attendees who took and sent selfies and cell phone pictures was higher than in any other sporting event, and Facebook and Twitter were constantly buzzing with status updates and comments about the games. FIFA was able to encourage this by embracing the use of mobile technology and social media. If companies learn to embrace changes in technology and changes in culture, they too can raise awareness of their products and develop a loyal customer base. 2. Learn effective teamwork: Soccer is a team sport, and like any team sport it requires excellent collaboration and communications skills between players. Teams in the World Cup this year boasted some of the most famous and skilled players in the world, and yet those teams fell to less skilled players who were able to work together more effectively. Businesses need all of their employees working together to become successful. If a few employees are hardworking and extremely productive, their efforts might be cancelled out by other employees who tend to slack off. Successful business requires communication at all levels and between all employees as well as hardworking and dedicated employees who know their jobs and do them well. 3. Build community: In addition to collaborating to become an effective work force, employees should enjoy working together. The World Cup drew together fans from all types of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds and made them into one community, bound by one common interest. USA fans who had never met each other cheered and celebrated together with every victory, and groaned and comforted one another with every defeat. Successful businesses like Google, Apple, and Pixar take great strides to create a sense of community among their employees. Individual workspace decoration is encouraged, video games and board games are available at breaks, and ideas are welcomed from even the newest employees. Making work a place where employees feel comfortable and happy is a great way to create a more successful business.

There is a dearth of information available on how to be a successful negotiator. A person needs to be confident, decisive, and articulate. He or she must also fully understand the negotiation situation, and the negotiator must go into negotiations with a clear idea of his or her company’s goals as well as the goals of the opponent. Nonetheless, there are certain common, avoidable mistakes that negotiators make consistently such as: Failure to compromise: Everyone knows that compromise is the key to successful negotiation. Compromise is the tool that has made it possible for companies to enter into successful partnerships for decades. When a negotiator becomes proud or feels offended, they may refuse to make compromises, putting their company in an undesirable situation. Becoming too emotional: A good negotiator keeps their emotions off the table, working with their opponent in a calm and efficient manner. When people allow emotions to dictate their actions, they often make poor decisions. Anger, frustration, and embarrassment can be the cause of a failed negotiation and missed opportunities. Acting overly formal: If negotiators are tense and exceedingly polite or formal, coming to a successful solution or partnership could take much longer than anticipated. Negotiations should flow smoothly, and as such the negotiators should develop a loose camaraderie or pleasant working relationship. Negotiators who remain tense might take offense or cause offense when none was intended, damaging the negotiation relationship. Lack of research: Before entering into negotiations, a businessman or woman must make sure they have all of the information they might need and more. Successful negotiators research all information relevant to the individual or company they will be working with, the topic or area of business which they will be discussing, and the goals and desires of each party involved in the negotiation. Failure to research thoroughly can lead to an opponent quickly gaining the upper hand and taking control of the negotiation. Not listening: The best way to find out information about what your co-negotiator wants is by listening to them. When a negotiator speaks more than they listen, they often fail to understand their opponent’s position and end up making poor negotiation decisions. Preventing future collaboration: Even if a negotiation is unsuccessful, it is unwise to not leave an option open for future collaboration. There will always be a time when two parties can each provide something the other needs, and precluding that option is a foolish negotiation decision. When entering into negotiations, a person should always practice good negotiation techniques such as remaining confident and decisive. He or she should also take steps to ensure that the mistakes listed above are avoided, so the negotiation can go smoothly and successfully.

To be successful in business and in life, a person should have some knowledge of negotiation. More specifically, a person should know how to think like a negotiator. This does not mean looking for how to spin any situation to your advantage. Many businessmen hurt their cause by thinking only of their own desires and goals when going into negotiation situations. Successful people in modern times tend to wear a constant mask of confidence, going into every conversation with a self-assured attitude and fully expecting to get whatever they want. While confidence is an admirable trait, and one that is respected in business situations, it must be tempered to be truly effective. A person’s success in negotiation, like everything else in life, relies upon balance. The best negotiators have a wide variety of traits they use in concert to make the best deals. They work to find mutually beneficial solutions that allow for collaboration in the future. Three traits and attitudes that are universally held by great negotiators are: Confidence: Confidence is important for earning the respect of your co-negotiators. At a negotiation, both sides want to appear in control. Being confident in yourself and knowing what you want is the best way to show your mastery of a situation. However, confidence that is not balanced with other traits can quickly become arrogance. Arrogant people make few real friends and earn little respect from those they deal with. If they are proven wrong, their arrogance is shown to be unfounded and even less palatable than when it appears to be born of continued success. Humility: Confidence is most effective at the negotiation table when it is tempered with humility. All great leaders have had confident humility; the ability to know they are right and an expectation of success balanced with kindness to those around them, as well as not seeking to place themselves above their comrades.  Humility is not highly prized at the negotiation table, often being perceived as weakness. True humility, however, means recognizing you may be incorrect and in need of another’s guidance to become successful. People with confident humility do not gloat in their success, but treat their co-negotiator with respect at all times so that he or she will return to the negotiation table in the future. Big Picture Understanding: Lesser negotiators become too focused on the deal at hand, looking only to achieve their goals and not considering anything else. The best negotiators know that to be successful one must fully understand a situation; the goals of one’s opponent, the overarching goals of one’s own company, the current economic climate, and more. Doing thorough research on any and all information that might be relevant to your negotiation often gives the best results. Incomplete understanding leads to weaker negotiations.

For some people, public speaking is easy, a simple task that can be done at any time. For others, however, the very idea of public speaking is enough to bring on a bout of nervousness and anxiety. Below are a few tips on how to be an effective speaker from people whose skill at speaking publicly has been proven. Connect with your audience: Many speakers try to add humor to their talks to make their audience laugh and create a good first impression. This does not mean telling a joke, necessarily, as that often comes across as trying too hard. Instead, make funny observations, asides, or use humorous descriptions. Sir Ken Robinson, a British educator who gave the most watched TED talk of all time, was very funny and relatable simply by making asides or parenthetical comments. Another way to connect with your audience is to find common ground and show your audience how similar you are to them. This could be achieved by being self deprecating, acting casual and relaxed, or by practicing your tone. Ronald Reagan had a calming and comforting tone that allowed him to connect with and better communicate with voters and the American public. Practice: Know your speech inside and out, and not just by rote memorization. Know your material so completely that nothing will be able to disrupt your flow. Be so familiar with your material that even if you forget a word you can remain calm and unflustered. Practice the words, the delivery, even the pauses between important points. Another of the more successful TED presenters, Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor, rehearsed her presentation over 200 times before speaking in front of a live audience. Give new information: Audiences generally don’t enjoy talks they’ve heard before, or hearing speakers rehash already worn out topics. To keep your audience’s attention and make them glad they came to your presentation, give them something new. Learning about new information, discoveries, and technological advances are among the most common reasons people listen to presentations. Put your presentation in context: When Winston Churchill gave speeches during World War II, he was able to impress upon his listeners the importance of his words by drawing attention to the state of the world. Martin Luther King Jr. often made use of historical context, couching his new ideas in old words and referencing the past. By instilling in their listeners a sense of importance and gravitas, these two famous orators were able to speak words that have echoed long after their deaths. If you find yourself giving a speech or a presentation, remember the examples of these famous orators. Speak with passion and confidence and use humor, context, and new information to make your speech unforgettable.

The world has been changing rapidly since Steven Covey published his highly successful book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, in 1989. While those skills still hold some relevance, to be truly effective in the 21st century business world requires a new set of tools and competencies. By updating some of Covey’s original habits and recognizing some newer skill sets prominent among the business elite, you can enhance your effectiveness in today’s business place and take up the role of the exemplary leader and team member.  Working Towards Collective Action  Collective action is the 21st century version of Steven Covey’s "synergize" habit. As a business leader, your goal should be to provide effective leadership that allows individuals to not only complete their own tasks effectively, but also unite those tasks into a larger project with a more nuanced mission. This means engaging such basic skills as keeping team members from repeating each other’s work, to more advanced aims of coordinating across departments. Working towards collective action also means being a leader without being overbearing, but rather allowing team members to brainstorm and solve problems independently within larger guidelines. Look Out for Serendipitous Connections  For Covey, keeping the end in mind from the very beginning was the way to be most effective in life and business. Today, however, being too focused on end goals can lead to missing out on valuable and surprising serendipitous connections. Be open to new ideas that may change your path or cause you to revise your goals. In the modern business world, what may once have appeared to be strong focus and goal-orientation is today viewed as inflexibility and a lack of creative thinking. Let new connections and opportunities surprise you and learn how to choose the best ideas and integrate them into projects already in progress. Prioritize Ethical Business Practices With communication and media everywhere, there isn’t anywhere to hide in today’s business world. This means that to succeed, prioritizing ethical business practices is absolutely vital. Individuals and companies want to know that they are working with businesses that share their values and concerns. Treating others fairly and being transparent about business practices can make your firm a magnet for positive and exponential growth. Communicate Verbally and Visually  To be heard over the sheer volume of information today, both spoken and digital, it is important to reinforce your messages in multiple ways. Additionally, communicating verbally and visually allows you to take into account the learning and engagement styles of a larger swath of your company. Help your messages to come through loud and clear by speaking them and also providing written communication. The more clearly you are heard and understood, the more effective you can be in today’s competitive business environment.

When in a social interaction, business or otherwise, what one says only goes so far. The way it is said, however, can have great influence on how others feel about a person. One method of successfully communicating with others is to show them respect; not only through what is said, but through tone, attitude, and non-verbal cues. Below are several tips for becoming an effective communicator. Listen: When engaging another person in conversation, the most important rule for success is to listen. Put another way, "listening is not the same as waiting your turn to talk." By genuinely being interested in what your partner has to say, you can ask further questions and get to know that person on more than just a superficial level. Relationships are always stronger when the people involved spend their time truly getting to know one another, instead of planning what they are going to say next. Maintain eye contact: By keeping eye contact while holding conversations, you are showing the other person you are interested in what they have to say. This does not mean trying to stare down the other person, or looking at them for so long your eyes become glassy. Simply hold their gaze when they look at you, and respond not just with your voice, but with your eyes as well. Be empathetic: Empathy is a hard trait to learn, and an even harder one to put into practice. It involves not only listening to and responding to another person, but putting yourself in their shoes. By feeling what your partner feels, you build an emotional connection and establish much stronger lines of communication. The most difficult part of empathy is learning what your partner experienced and how their experiences have shaped their beliefs and reactions to the world around them. Successful doctors, social workers, and mental health specialists often have high levels of empathy. Be open-minded: Like empathy, being open-minded requires an ability and willingness to see things from another person’s point of view. A person must suspend their belief and accept the possibility they are wrong, or at the very least that there might be multiple valid ways of thinking. This is another difficult skill, but very helpful in facilitating real and meaningful conversations. Stay relaxed and open: Body language conveys far more to our listeners than we might consider. Keep your body language open and don’t tense up or draw inward, as these are signs of a closed off personality. If you look relaxed and friendly, people will be more willing to share with you and you will invite more involved conversation. Good communications skills are important not only at the negotiating table, but in every facet of life. Being able to interact with people and make new friends and partners is dependent upon one’s ability to communicate with people. Follow the above tips, letting your partner know you are genuinely interested in what he or she has to say.

The time-honored practice of comparing a business or an organization to a body is popular because it is so effective. Without all of the individual parts working in concert with one another, the body will not function properly. The same is true of a business; the best businesses are made up of unique parts, each bringing different talents to the workplace. Simply put, the most successful businesses are the most diverse. Diversity in the workplace is far more than just a PR or HR statistic. It can drive widespread economic growth and financial success for individual companies. Drawing from a wider pool of applicants will give your company more widespread and varied expertise. This will allow for a greater diversity not only of race or cultural background, but of beliefs, training, and upbringing. The following are a few of the reasons diversity is so important: Better Marketing: By drawing upon the backgrounds of your various workers, you better understand the most effective marketing tools and techniques to reach the largest number and variety of people. Your workers can help you better understand a wider market, and thus greatly increase sales. More Personal Customer Service: When you have a diverse workforce, you create the means of effectively communicating with a wider range of people. By having workers who can speak multiple languages and understand multiple cultures and customs, you can help widen your customer base. A company with great diversity will be more successful, as customers will be more satisfied with the service they get from workers who share their background and understand their first language. Higher Worker Retention: Statistics have shown that "diverse employees are three times more likely to leave an organization than non-diverse workers" for a variety of reasons. One of the most important reasons is because diverse workers in a non-diverse company feel out of place. Like being last picked on a sports team because the team needed one extra player, being a worker who was hired only for his or her diverse background is not conducive to feeling appreciated. Diversity Breeds Competitiveness: When employees are drawn from a wide pool of candidates, it makes the job opening much more competitive, and allows a company to hire only the most qualified candidates. Furthermore, having higher levels of ability among workers means employees will continue striving to improve, keeping themselves and their skills useful and relevant to the company. More Innovative Workforce: If a company hires workers exclusively from a graduating class at one specific college, then that company will only have employees trained in the same manner. A company with workers from different backgrounds will be able to find more effective solutions to problems because its employees have such varied training and backgrounds. This improves the company’s productivity and competitiveness in the market.

One of the necessary traits for being a successful negotiator and leader is confidence. Without a healthy measure of self-esteem, a person will never be able to achieve their dreams. The following list includes 6 methods of boosting one’s own confidence and the confidence of employees. Recognize strengths: Many managers and authority figures are quick to point out their workers flaws, always noticing when something is done incorrectly. However, when a worker shows a particular innovative spirit or promise in a particular area, his or her efforts go unnoticed. Take the time to recognize your workers for their strengths instead of always berating them for their weaknesses. At the same time, learn to appreciate your own strengths and talents. Address weaknesses and fix them: If an employee has a particular weakness, don’t stop at pointing it out. Work with your employee to find out how he or she can better themselves, and how their weakness can be addressed, and if possible, eliminated. Another option is to turn that weakness into a strength. A basketball player who is well known for driving to the basket on the right side of the court might be able to fake out his or her opponents by sometimes taking a turn to the left. Give compliments: Everyone likes to have their work praised, and workers’ performance improves when they are recognized for their work. In addition to giving compliments to your coworkers, be gracious in receiving compliments. A coworker who brags or acts pompous upon receiving a compliment, or one who constantly denies the compliments of coworkers, will soon cease to receive them. Set realistic goals: One of the fastest ways to ruin your self-esteem is to set goals or expectations you are simply unable to achieve. Your continued failure will make you feel worse about yourself when in fact it was never realistic to expect success. Identify problems: Learn to recognize situations and tasks which harm your self esteem, and remove yourself from them. If you always feel bad about yourself after watching an unrealistic TV program, then stop watching that program. Get rid of toxic factors in your life, and if you need change don’t base your decisions on unrealistic comparisons. Challenge unhealthy thoughts: Often we are our own biggest critics, judging ourselves harshly and unnecessarily. When you find yourself thinking degrading thoughts, challenge them. If you wouldn’t let others talk about you in a certain way, then make sure you aren’t talking to yourself in that same fashion. Learning to appreciate your own self worth and the worth of others and learning to increase confidence in the workplace is vital to the productivity and success of your business.

Many companies will hire a keynote speaker perhaps once or twice a year to deliver a message to their employees or to inspire them in various ways. While planning a keynote speech can be time consuming, it is clear that hiring speakers is beneficial to a company’s success. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is the novelty of an outside speaker. This and other reasons for the success of outside speakers are listed and considered below. Novelty of a New Speaker: Employees often respond better to criticism and advice if it comes from someone they don’t work with every day. If that person has a proven track record of success in their field, employees are more likely to respond positively to the speaker and implement his or her advice. For example, a lecture on the importance of technology will be much more effective if given by Bill Gates instead of by the office IT manager. Keynote Speakers are Entertaining: Keynoters are paid to speak. If they couldn’t capture and hold an audience’s attention, they would be out of a job. A keynote speaker may not say anything that someone in your office wouldn’t think of themselves, but what they can do is deliver their information in a fun and entertaining way. Listeners are always more affected by a lecture when it was interesting and catches their imagination in some way. Individuality of Talks and Lectures: Each speaker has a specific way they prefer delivering their information, and the variety between speakers is part of what makes their talks effective. If you hire a keynote speaker, do not ask him or her to fit their talk into a specific format that you prefer. This will take away from the individuality and effectiveness of the speech. Motivate Your Employees: The point of a keynote or motivational speaker is to get your employees excited about new ideas and to fuel their imagination, helping them become more productive. The success of a speaker can be measured by how much it improves the success of your company and your workers. Get a Preview: In essence, a keynote speech is often a teaser for the speaker’s book. By hiring the speaker, a company can determine if buying their book for employees is worth the cost. If the speech goes well, for example, and employees are excited and invigorated by what they hear, then buying several copies of the book could further the productivity sparked by the keynoter’s speech. Consider hiring a keynote or motivational speaker if your workers seem to be slowing down, or if your company appears to be losing some of its momentum.  

A sales plan is integral to any company’s success. The strategy most take is to devise an effective sales plan, which remains the same until it begins to become less successful. This can be an effective strategy for a company looking to maintain present success. However, the best companies in any industries are always growing and expanding. A business serious about success has to think big. One way to push towards greater success is to improve and reevaluate your current sales plan. Fortunately, there are plenty of small changes a company can make without overhauling its approach to sales: Monitor analytics. The only way to know what changes will help your company is to look at the stats. Continuously checking up on your website’s analytics lets you know what’s working and what’s not. Make a goal. Do you want to expand your customer base? Improve customer experience? Streamline production? Once you’ve analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of your business plan, come up with an attainable goal for your reevaluation. Stay up to date online. In today’s world, every company has a social media presence. An under-utilized social media page means lost sales and poor reputation. There are changes every day in the technology world. Staying apprised of these updates allows makes your company relevant, appealing to new customer bases and keeping old customers loyal. Keep up with technology to maximize your company’s potential. Focus on your audience. Your audience’s response is how you determine what parts of your sales plan are effective. Your reevaluation is primarily concerned with this response, so make it your top priority. Don’t be afraid of change. A reevaluation of your sales plan should be a small update, not taking up too much money or resources. However, sometimes the reevaluation can lead to a bigger realization of a potential untapped market or branding opportunity. In these cases, don’t be afraid to go for gold. A big change can mean big success when it’s relevant and oriented towards your audience’s needs. Be patient. Big changes don’t happen overnight. A successful reevaluation of a sales strategy takes time. Proper analysis of your company’s success can only be done by experts looking over a lot of data. Similarly, figuring out what changes should be made with the data in mind is not a quick process. Even small changes take time. By devoting necessary time to a sales plan reevaluation, you stand to bring your company growth and success. Get some advice. Shapiro Negotiations offers extensive sales and negotiation training opportunities for maximizing any company’s sales potential. Professional help with reevaluating your company’s sales strategy can mean big growth.

Technology advances rapidly in the business world. However, some things will always stay the same. The art of negotiation is as important a business skill as it ever has been. Strong negotiation skills can be the difference between a beneficial compromise and a loss. There will always be conflicts in life, and the ability to solve them, particularly in the business world, is what creates success. What are some important negotiation skills, and why are they so critical? Confidence. Don’t be intimidated; bullies know how to get their way. The business world has its fair share of tyrants, as some people intimidate their way to success. Feeling intimidated means you’re already on your way to defeat. People can sense when you’re emotionally not up for the fight, and they take advantage of it. In the business world, this can mean lost profits, promotions, and opportunities. Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated during negotiation. If the other person appears more confident, understand it’s typically not because they deserve something more than you do; they’re just convinced they do. By bringing this conviction to the table, you can win a negotiation. Knowing when to walk away. Some battles are not worth fighting. When business decisions hang in the balance, it’s imperative to know when to walk away. If someone is transparently trying to get their way with no concessions to you, it’s best to exit the negotiation. Playing fair. In most negotiations, the goal is compromise. If both parties can understand this and be sympathetic to the others’ needs, both stand to benefit far more. A competition for money or business resources isn’t a true negotiation. In any negotiation, each side has something to offer, and some things they can reasonably concede. Be open, fair, and honest, and you can gain the most from business negotiations. People skills. More often than not, it’s not what you say - it’s how you say it. By presenting your case in the right light, you stand to gain much more from any negotiation. Approaching a negotiation nervously or aggressively gives the other party the upper hand. Be calm, civil, and direct. A good sense of humor and open demeanor, as well as being a good listener, go a long way to realize a successful negotiation. As a business skill, negotiation is here to stay. By prioritizing having good negotiators on your team, you create an environment for business success. Remember, negotiation should be approached not as a competition, but as a compromise that both sides stand to gain from.

Communication skills can be learned and are often part of effective negotiation training. However, there are some people who are inherently more skilled negotiators than others. Most excellent speakers had the following characteristics from the get-go before they were trained in negotiation: Quick thinking. Being able to think on one’s feet is essential to being a strong negotiator. Negotiating can be stressful, and sometimes requires making big decisions quickly. Strong negotiators can absorb new information and decide the best course of action immediately. Intelligence. It’s no surprise that negotiating requires some smarts. Business negotiators must assess their needs and the needs of others, coming up with compromises that benefit everyone’s interests - often on the fly. Confidence. Negotiation requires asserting one’s will. Many negotiations fail before they begin because the negotiator feels they don’t deserve what they’re asking for. Strong negotiators project their confidence and strong will throughout the conversation. This has an effect on their opponent. Without realizing it, they will begin to see the other’s point of view. Ability to anticipate others. A successful negotiation requires strong listening skills. However, equally important is the capacity to anticipate other’s needs before they express them. With knowledge of their opponent’s wishes, a negotiator can manipulate the conversation so they make fewer concessions, but their opponent still feels they came out on top. Compassion and people skills. Negotiating is a social skill. The ability to connect with others is essential to being a good negotiator. Knowing what others are likely to want and how they will react to things means a good negotiator can easily manage an interaction. Making things sound good. A good negotiator goes into a conversation willing to make concessions. However, while they may be willing to make large concessions, the goal of the negotiation is to make as few concessions as possible. A strong negotiator makes small concessions sound bigger than they are. This isn’t about lying; lying will ruin an honest negotiation. Rather, it’s about presenting things in a light that is beneficial to the negotiator. Knowledge of how much to let on. Negotiation is all about presenting the facts in a way that is convincing. Giving away too much information leaves one vulnerable; being too tight-lipped come across as cold, which doesn’t have a good effect on the negotiation. A strong negotiator is personable, but strong willed. They listen well to words, but pay attention to subtext and body language. Great negotiators must train to maximize their abilities. However, the social intelligence they hone is innate.

They might have told you differently when you graduated high school, but the fact is that dealing with unpleasant people is a fact of life. Regardless of age, you will have to deal with difficult people in multiple roles and environments. In the business world, unpleasant people can be a particular problem. You may have to deal with the same problem every day, or they may be in an important position for the future of your company. SNI’s Conflict Resolution Training focuses on how Dealing with Difficult People. Learning a few tips for managing interactions with unpleasant people can make your life a lot easier and improve your business prospects. Accept the problem. Some people are just awful to deal with, and there’s no more to it than that. There are plenty of different kinds of unpleasant people in the workplace. Denying the problem or trying to make it your own fault solves nothing and can be detrimental to your ability to deal with it. Unpleasant people don’t have to make your life miserable. Don’t be afraid to accept that they are the problem, and go from there. Don’t get defensive. Many unpleasant people thrive on putting the blame on others - including you. Although it may be incredibly difficult to resist the urge to defend yourself, it’s ultimately the best choice. Your self-defense will have no effect on them, as they live in a world where you are always to blame. Getting defensive will usually have the reverse effect by making you appear guilty. Don’t lose your temper. In work situations, losing your temper is unprofessional. No matter how infuriating a coworker is acting, it’s never appropriate to yell or act out in anger. Unpleasant people are not worth your emotional response. Don’t allow yourself to get too angry. Stay out of the emotional situation they are trying to create with you. Control your interactions. Seeing a difficult person every day can be frustrating. However, some people are only unpleasant in certain situations. If possible, avoid these situations. If not, avoid the person as much as you can while remaining professional. Avoid one-on-one encounters. Some difficult people are explicitly trying to bully you, and they will try to get you alone to do so more effectively. Avoid this in any way possible. Bringing in a third party can help diffuse any situation with an unpleasant person. Nothing results from an open conflict beyond making their behavior more unpleasant. If necessary, tell someone. Some workplace interactions are just unpleasant. However, you have a right to feel safe and comfortable at work. Talk to HR if an unpleasant person goes too far.

Having a positive attitude may sound a bit trite, but in truth, it has a noticeable effect on the quality of people’s work. Those who focus on the negative and allow setbacks to crush their spirits tend to produce less and lower quality work. Below are a few ways of encouraging positive outlooks in the workplace, according to negotiations training experts. Smile more. As silly as it sounds, smiling more has been shown to increase people’s happiness. The simple action of smiling makes a person feel happier, and by "pretending" to be happy, you will find that you truly are. Smiling at other people will also provoke positive feelings. It will compel them to smile back and feel the same happiness as you. Focus on the positive. This is a bit more difficult and requires some self-control. In everything that happens throughout the day, look for the positive and celebrate it. When you forgot to bring your lunch to work, celebrate that you have an excuse to eat junk food from the vending machine. There are two sides to every situation, and constantly looking for the good will ultimately result in a positive and more productive attitude. Appreciate what you have. Recognize and count your blessings every day. You could always be in a worse position. Your peace and thankfulness will inspire your coworkers, and bring positivity into the workplace. Affirm your coworkers. Everyone has gifts and talents, and everyone likes to be recognized for their work. Affirm your coworkers for their strengths, and help them to recognize their worth if their esteem is low. You can make people’s day by letting them know that they are appreciated, and that attitude of appreciation and affirmation will eventually spread to your coworkers, as well. Set goals. Setting goals is a good way to make sure you are productive. Set daily goals, for you and your coworkers to ensure that everyone feels accomplished upon completing a project. The feeling of success will lead to increased positive feelings for everyone at your workplace.

It’s not easy to become a top negotiator. It requires instruction and practice to become truly adept. Negotiations Training from experts in the field is a great catalyst for success in your career. However, there are certain negotiation tactics that enable people to succeed in the tensest negotiations, even with inadequate negotiation training. Read on to learn a few key methods for success. Know when to make the first offer. In most negotiations, you do not want to be the person making the first offer. Letting the other side set the starting point will give you an idea of what their goal might be and will usually give you the upper hand. However, there are some cases in which you might want to move first; the trick is to recognize those rare cases when they arise. This is where negotiations training from Shapiro Negotiations can make the difference between success and a failure to close the deal. Provide reasonable counter offers. Most people have seen how negotiations go in movies: two people both shouting unreasonable numbers at one another until they somehow come to an agreement, or else the situation devolves into violence. In actual negotiations, countering with unreasonable offers will rarely help improve your hand. Be prepared for aggressive tactics. Some negotiators rely on hyperagressive tactics, hoping to intimidate their counterparts to win the negotiation. Be prepared for insults, backhanded comments, and attempts to get underneath your skin. While these strategies are immature, you will likely come across them a few times in your career. Ask questions. Learn about the people sitting across the table from you. If they are pushing back against what seems to be a mutually beneficial agreement, ask why. This will give you an insight into their motives and goals and will open the communication lines between you and your opponent, hopefully leading to a fruitful conclusion. Come prepared. Research your opponent’s company to find out what its background is, how it has grown, what its goals are, and how it stands to benefit from your negotiation. If possible, research your fellow negotiator, as well, to learn his or her tactics, demeanor, and character. The more information you have, the better the outcome will be for your company.

SNI is giving away one spot to our upcoming invitational seminar in Baltimore on December 18th! To win this $650 value  enter via the Rafflecopter below. You can enter multiple ways (today and tomorrow!) and the more you enter the more likely you are to win! One winner will be drawn at random and announced on Monday, November 3rd! Good Luck!   HOW TO NEGOTIATE AND INFLUENCE SO EVERYONE WINS - ESPECIALLY YOU! This highly interactive invitational seminar is conducted in an educational and engaging format highlighting the three vital elements of SNI’s process: Prepare, Probe and Propose. You will learn a straightforward, systematic approach to Negotiation and Influencing, applying SNI’s philosophy that "the best way to get what you want is to help the other side get what they want." Attend this full-day seminar and you will: Eliminate bad habits that lead to Win-Lose and Lose-Lose Outcomes Learn to do deals that build relationships that lead to more deals Learn a seven-step process vital for effective preparation Develop skills to increase confidence in negotiations Learn four key probing questions to find out what the other side really wants Develop a system for breaking deadlocks by obtaining vital information Utilize new tools to overcome the probe-resistant negotiator Learn the three fundamental rules for proposing deals Overcome the fear of rejected proposals REGISTRATION FORM DATE: Thursday, December 18, 2014 LOCATION: 5520 Research Park Drive, Baltimore, MD TIMES: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. COST: $650 (Includes continental breakfast, lunch, a copy of the award-winning book, The Power of Nice, and all course-related materials) You can enter by: Leaving a Blog Comment Liking SNI on Facebook Following SNI on Twitter Tweeting about the giveaway Joining our LinkedIn Group Subscribing to our DealCoach Newsletter Enter all day today and tomorrow and come back on Monday to see if you won!   a Rafflecopter giveaway