Getting a good deal

The most common request for training I’ve had over the years is in negotiation.

It can feel quite unpleasant – but it’s a vital skill that’s useful in both our professional and personal lives.

We negotiate all the time. Anyone with children certainly knows that.

And as your parents probably taught you – if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

It’s a huge topic. My focus isn’t on how to talk someone down from a tall building, or get someone to release hostages. Thankfully, I’ve never needed to do either.

I concentrate on negotiating with clients, which is fundamentally different to more typical transactional negotiations.

Negotiating with clients

Do you negotiate with clients?

If you ever have contact with them, then I’m willing to bet that you do. Even if you’re not the person who talks about money.

Negotiations with clients can be over all sorts of things, including; timing, scope, deliverables, feedback and more.

And they don’t finish when you land a project. Negotiations continue throughout the length of an engagement. The most obvious example being over the dreaded scope creep. Even presenting creative work can be treated as a form of negotiation.

Clients are at an immediate advantage. They’re the buyers, so they hold the purse strings. And at bigger companies in particular, negotiation training is common.

So it really helps for people working at agencies and consultancies to equip themselves with a few techniques to counter this.

Switch on

The first is simply to recognise when a negotiation is taking place and then ‘switch on’.

Think back to when you’ve finished having a conversation with someone, and afterwards think, ‘Hang on a minute, how did I let them talk me into agreeing to that?’

It was probably because you didn’t realise you were in a negotiating situation.

It’s important to learn to spot negotiation techniques. And then know how to respond to them. Of course, it also helps to have a few techniques up your sleeve to use yourself.

It’s not about winning

Negotiating with clients is not the same as the more typical negotiations that spring to mind, like buying a car. The biggest difference is that when a negotiation with a client is complete, you need to continue working together.

So it’s no good if either party feels too hard done by. Getting a good deal is not about either party ‘winning’.

You certainly don’t want your client to feel too bruised by the encounter. That won’t help the project outcome. Nor will it help you build a long-term, trusting, working relationship.

Likewise, your client shouldn’t want to beat you up – at least not too badly.

Not all clients feel the same way, but the majority of them aren’t monsters. The more savvy ones realise that they won’t get the best results if they walk all over you. Your good negotiation techniques can help make that clear, as well as avoid it happening.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

As with so many things, preparation is key.

You should start by expecting to negotiate. No matter where you start, a client will (or should) negotiate. So it always helps to leave yourself with some room to manoeuvre.

Having said that, it’s a good idea to set boundaries in advance. Decide where the lines are that you’re not prepared to cross. And stick to them.

It’s a bit like going into an auction. You should set yourself a limit in the cold light of day, rather than get carried away in the heat of the moment.

Designers talk a lot about empathy. Take a spoonful of that medicine. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. See the situation from their perspective and ask yourself what’s important to them.

Time pressure

Creating and using time pressure is a classic negotiating technique.

Skilled negotiators know that negotiating can feel unpleasant. We have an urge to get it over with quickly. Often by agreeing to things we shouldn’t.

Clients have deadlines as well. So time pressure can sometimes be used to your advantage.

No deal is better than a bad deal

Resist the temptation to rush to a conclusion. Take your time. Ask for more if necessary.

Remember that sometimes, no deal is better than a bad deal.

Mindfulness

There are lots of practical negotiation tips and techniques. A more overarching, but less tangible skill to develop when negotiating is something I call mindfulness.

Not the wellbeing kind. I’m referring to the ability to read the bigger situation, understanding what’s really going on, at the same time as listening and speaking.

What the other party really values is not always revealed by what they say.

It’s hard to do this in the moment, during a negotiation. But with practice, it becomes easier, and is very valuable.

Good cop, bad cop

There are several advantages to negotiating as a team.

Firstly, it can help with my last point about mindfulness. It can be difficult for one person to do all the talking, whilst listening to and observing everything else that’s happening.

It can also help to involve a team member who’s not as emotionally involved in the outcome as you. They’ll help keep your points rational, and stick to your pre-agreed boundaries.

If you’re the person responsible for building a warm, accommodating, ongoing relationship with your client, it can be difficult to also play hard ball. Much better to assign that role to a team mate. Just like clients do with their procurement colleagues.

So find someone to partner with. Make sure they’re well equipped, agree roles, and formulate a plan together. Back to my point about the importance of thorough preparation.

Effective negotiation requires many skills, including listening, empathy and persuasion. It’s difficult, but well worth developing.

Along with pricing, improving your ability to negotiate effectively is probably the tactical change that will have the biggest impact on your profitability.

Not just in the here and now, but over the long term too.

My Commercial Skills for Creatives training follows the five steps agencies go through to win work.

The fourth course in the series is called Negotiating with clients.

It covers all the techniques I’ve referred to in this article in greater depth, and more:

• The two main types of negotiation – and which is right

• Preparation

• Crumbling and Nibbling

• The danger of ‘Yes’

• The power of ‘No’

• Time pressure

• Mindfulness

• Anchoring and priming

• Other practical tips and techniques

Outcomes

You will:

✔ Recognise and use effective negotiating techniques

✔ Be equipped with phrases to use in common situations

✔ Feel confident in reaching mutually beneficial agreements

Here’s a link to the training course. Click the red ‘View course’ button for more content info.

I built a 100-person international design consultancy, before selling it.

Now I work independently, providing:

GROWTH ADVICE: Invigorating creative leaders

COMMERCIAL SKILLS TRAINING: Boosting creative careers