The Customer should be made aware of how the seller is contributing to the future prosperity of the Customer's organization. Many professional sellers follow the two project minimum. In addition to the value they are delivering today, they emphasize two value generating projects that will positively impact the Customer's key business results in the future. This, in turn, obliges them to test the market for possible price flexibility, and challenge their existing agreements for possible concessions. Using Common Negotiating Skills To Prevent A Negotiation One of the best and most collaborative of the negotiating skills is stressing the parties shared interests.
Shared interests are the reasons that the seller and the buyer have for talking with one another.
Without these, neither party would take the time. During a negotiation, the attention shifts from these shared interests to the value differences between the two parties. This shift in focus brings the increased tension and defensiveness. It stands to reason, then, that the seller can and should do everything possible to keep the focus on interests that are shared with the Customer. As long as the attention is on shared interests, value differences lose importance.