Negotiating Skills - Part 3
Credibility

Following the theme of my last two articles, I am again going to discuss negotiating skills. The art of negotiating involves many elements. In addition to leverage and information gathering, which we discussed in the two previous articles, your credibility plays a big role. Your ability to make others believe that you mean what you say will have a huge impact on your success in negotiating. As in a poker game, you also need to be able to spot a bluff and this is not a skill that comes easily.

First you must establish your own credibility. It is said that the only thing worse than getting caught bluffing, is not to be bluffing and have the other party think you are. In order to be believed, you must prove yourself to be honest. You need to establish your credibility right from the start of your meeting. Be honest, straightforward, and willing to compromise. It also helps to be quite specific with your information. The more precise you are, the more believable you will be.

While honesty is always the best policy, sometimes it can be to your benefit to say something such as, "This is my final offer" or "I can't go any higher." In order to be successful, however, limit this kind of comment to only your most critical issue. If you make hard and fast comments about every issue, you will become a victim of "the boy who cried wolf" syndrome. A savvy negotiator knows that you must be flexible on many issues to be able to hold fast on one. Plan ahead by knowing all the issues involved and choosing one or two as your most critical. Be willing to be flexible on the others.

Spotting a bluff from your counterpart can be difficult. You have to judge their honesty just as they are trying to determine yours. We all have ways of assessing the credibility of others. Some of us automatically suspect any sentence that begins with a phrase such as "To be perfectly candid" or "In all honesty." Others use nonverbal clues such as shifty eyes, fidgeting, perspiration or hands over the mouth when speaking. Whatever clues you use, use them in negotiations as well. When you can't be sure, the best you can do is to make an educated guess.

In summary, the third basic skill, after leverage and information, is credibility. Too often we make the assumption that others will consider us as honest as we know we are. The smarter approach is to understand that the other side is just as concerned with whether you are bluffing as you are with whether he is.

My next article, the last in this series, will address judgment-the ability to strike a balance between holding fast for what you want, and compromising.