LBW tip of the week - Negotiation and Barter

LBW tip of the week - Negotiation and Barter

Leicester Business Women’s first tip of the week for 2012…..

In business, when setting up and once your business is trading negotiation and barter can be very important when buying or selling for you, whether that maybe a product or service. Barter is an aspect of negotiation and involves exchanging one product or service for another. For example: You need to buy some food from a market trader and you offer to repair their stall instead of exchanging money or part payment.  

Here are some more tips on negotiating to help you get started:

• The price is almost ALWAYS negotiable
• Move past the fear of asking: most people have a fear of asking for a better price because of being afraid they will say no. It is absolutely essential that you move past this barrier so that you can get the best price for your purchases. Think of it this way – it’s a numbers game, some suppliers will say no… however, many will say yes.

Can you think of occasions when you have already bartered? How did you decide on the relative worth of the values exchanged?

Practise this, maybe in a group or with another person to gain your confidence:

• You are going to offer something in exchange for something else (good or services)
• Before you begin, consider what it is that you want to offer, and its value
• After the bartering activity, think about the emotions and feelings of the process, was there a winner and a loser or was it WIN WIN
• Remember, you should always try and look for a win win situation so that it is a fair deal

Let me know how you get on as I’d be interested to see developments in this area over the next week or so

That’s it for this week…keep an eye out for more helpful tips next week…