-Buying a car
As we live in a world where all our days are encumbered by deals and mediations, negotiation skills become very important. It is not only the business arena that demands these skills, most of our interpersonal negotiations are a part of everyday living too. A seemingly straightforward process (in an era where we can get almost anything at the click of a button) like buying a car or a house can actually be riddled with dealer plots and plain lack of interpersonal skill.
Thus how good our negotiation and interpersonal skills are, comes in handy when we have to buy a big ticket item. But not all of us will have the necessary natural skills and thus a lesson on scientifically negotiating might come in handy. Therefore in this paper, I have laid down the process of negotiation, strategies that can help the process of negotiation, tactics that one can use to get better deals and tactics that one should be aware of, that are commonly used by industry dealers and agents.
The goal at hand is to buy a car (Hyundai Genesis 2.0.) at the best price and terms that is possible. The seemingly simple goal will take me through a rigorous learning of necessary skills, both scientific data gathering and the psychological tricks that form a necessary part of each bargain. I will also do a BATNA (Best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and a WATNA (Worst alternative to a negotiated agreement) analysis that will let me know the upper and lower bounds of a deal that I will definitely accept or should not let go respectively.
In conclusion, it can be said that negotiation taking care of everyone’s needs can prove fruitful. Working collaboratively can be much more productive than getting down in a contest where everyone is trying to get smaller pieces of the pie to themselves. This may not be practical in all situations, and neither is knowing other parties goals very feasible, but in certain situations, it is very possible. Like here, we know the dealer’s goals- profit maximization, and the salesperson’s goals- making a sale. So they can be worked with scientifically.
References
Hindriks, K., Jonker, C. M., & Tykhonov, D. (2007). Negotiation Dynamics: Analysis, Concession Tactics, and Outcomes. 2007 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Intelligent Agent Technology (IAT'07), 2-3. doi:10.1109/iat.2007.50
Hopmann, P. T. (1996). The negotiation process and the resolution of international conflicts. Univ of South Carolina Pr.
Lancaster, J. (2013, July). Retrieved June 03, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com
Lutz, K. (2016, May 26). BATNA: Examples of 10 Hard Bargaining Negotiating Skills and Negotiation Strategies - PON - Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Retrieved June 03, 2016