Knowing One’s Position

After issue development, the next major step in preparing for business negotiation is to determine one’s goals, a clear understanding of what one is planning to achieve, and an understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

Goals

Goals are usually tangibles, such as price, rate, specific terms, contract language, and fixed package. But they can also be intangible, such as maintaining a certain precedent, defending a principle, or getting an agreement regardless of cost. An intangible goal of an automobile parts manufacturer might be to acquire recognition as a reliable supplier of quality products to major car producers.

Negotiators should clearly define their goals. This requires stating all of the goals they wish to achieve in the negotiation, prioritizing the goals, identifying potential multigoal packages, and evaluating the possible trade-offs among them.