Everyone has to negotiate at one stage or another. These
negotiations could be in the form of promotions, sales calls,
hiring, and more. For companies, negotiations are in the form of
contracts, business deals and cost management. The rule of thumb
for most negotiations remains the same although the situation,
process, and result may be different.
Negotiation: Basic Techniques
This is the most important aspect of any negotiation - never
be unprepared. Understand the subject, your benefits and losses,
and how the outcome will affect the organization.
To maintain an advantage, try to understand what the other
party may tend to ask for or believe in. Get as much information
as possible on their stance on the subject, what they are looking
for and also what they are expecting from you in the offer.
Understand the rationale behind their negotiation to get a better
insight into their negotiation tactics.
Know the least you may need to settle for without incurring
losses. You can also treat this as a yardstick to build up your
negotiation tactics.
Show an openness, flexibility and willingness to talk about
the negotiation.
Calmness and patience should be your armor. If you sense that
you are losing control of yourself or the situation, take a
break. Decisions made in anger are almost always wrong.
Be as clear as possible with your terms and conditions.
If you have the slightest instinct that someone is bluffing,
insist on their providing the proof to support their claims.
Stressing the common goals is a good way of keeping the
negotiations workable.
Listen attentively to understand better.
Concentrate on one particular issue at a time.
Do not consider negotiations as a win or lose proposition or
that to win you have to take advantage of the other party.
Remember negotiations are the basis of a long and, hopefully,
fruitful relationship. Carrying over the animosity by cheating or
taking advantage of each other will lead to failure in the long
run.
If the offer seems even remotely acceptable to you, finalize
the deal immediately. Do not give the other party a chance to
ponder over things.
Contract Negotiations
Contract negotiation is an intrinsic part of any business
arrangement. This is especially true with telecom, since telecom
and telecom expense management is vital to business operations
and is usually among the top five company expenditures. The
bottom line of any successful business venture depends on good
communications systems controlled by expert telecom expense
management.
Unfortunately, small and medium size businesses frequently do not
consider contract negotiation a part of telecommunications
management. Often, various people such as the office manager or a
systems engineer or the IT or HR department handle the
communications. While they may be skilled professionals in their
fields, their knowledge and experience in terms of telecom
contract negotiation is quite limited. Too often, the need to
acquire or operate through a telecom management network is never
considered.
By adopting and implementing telecom contract negotiation and
control techniques, an average company can save 10 to 30 percent
of their annual telecom expense. A professional in telecom
expense management carries certain requisites to the negotiating
table that a non-telecom professional may not have. People
experienced in telecom contract negotiation know that the rate is
not the only variable and that, in fact, many more costs can lie
hidden in the terms and conditions of the contract. A telecom
consultant or auditor that deals regularly in contracts would
know the telecom rate traps.
The best way to know your telecom network requirements is to
perform a thorough circuit and services inventory of local and
distant data and wireless devices that you have and whether they
are being fully utilized. Break down your telecom expenses to the
minutest detail and understand your trends and needs. Modifying,
changing or stopping services should be an ongoing process.
Also consider the refunds and benefits (and loss) from reducing
services. A telecom audit will help uncover refunds due to
invoice errors, lower certain ongoing expenses, and reveal
techniques to improve or optimize existing telecom networks.
Getting this done with experienced telecom auditors will reap
many great benefits.
The next task is to eliminate unused phone lines. On average, a
company with a 100-employee workforce has plenty of phone lines
and some of them may remain unused over a period of time while
the company is still paying for their service. This alone can run
into thousands of dollars annually. Negotiating a workable deal
with the telephone company is the best solution for these
problems. Having a few negotiating techniques up your sleeve
might make the job easier but having an experienced telecom
professional on your side will guarantee the best results
possible.
Nermine Shaker is a Partner at THE SYGNAL GROUP, a telecom
consulting firm that offers telecom expense management,
telecom auditing and VoIP management to businesses of
all sizes. Find out how to lower your telecom expenses
at http://www.SygnalGroup.com/ or visit our blog at http://www.TelecomExpertise.com/.
