Are you delivering satisfaction when negotiating?

How do you want the other party to feel after a negotiation?

This is a question I pose my delegates at the beginning of each workshop. The most frequent response I get is - it depends. To a certain extent this is true; for example it depends on what the relationship is like or whether you're likely to do business with your counterpart again.

However, generally speaking you need the other party to feel SATISFIED, because there are post negotiation implications of them feeling dissatisfied.  Here's an example:

You're buying a car privately, priced at £10,000. You do your market research and you're ready to bargain with the seller. You make and ambitious offer of £9,250. The seller agrees to your offer immediately.

So you've got to be satisfied with a £750 discount - right? Wrong - you're completely dissatisfied. Why? Because you're probably thinking the following:  that was too easy; I should have gone in lower; what's wrong with the car?

The outcome seems to have passed you by, because you're now completely preoccupied with the process (or lack of ) you've just been through. The surprising bit therefore is that the outcome is less important than the psychological ritual of negotiating.

What do we value then? We value being made to work for something and this engenders a certain degree of satisfaction; satisfaction that increases the likelihood of the deal being secured.

The next time you negotiate, consider the psychology of delivering satisfaction.