Over on The Negotiator Magazine, Eric Garner recently had a great article on “Timeless Principles To Steer You Through Negotiations” that listed seven principles of negotiations that define a sure-fire way to succeed.

The list, which also included 7 timeless quotes, one per principle, is as follows:

1. Negotiating is an essentially human way of interacting.
2. Negotiating is not about dividing up a limited cake in ways that are divisive. It is about making a bigger and better cake.
3. Conflict is at the heart of negotiation but only a positive view of conflict will result in a successful outcome.
4. There is a time to speak and a time to shut up in negotiations. When you do more listening than speaking, you actually increase your power.
5. In power negotiations, when the stakes are high, let the other side believe what you want them to believe. But don’t lie or be dishonest.
6. Recognize that you will only reach agreement by understanding the deeply-held needs of the other side.
7. You can only succeed in negotiations with a win-win attitude.

Essentially, you’re dealing with a person, and you’re only going to succeed if you approach the negotiations with integrity, listen to the other person, and reach an outcome that both parties view as a success. Strategy, tactics, and textbook methodologies will be useless if you forget these basic points. Writing anything further would just miss the point.

I recently came across a recent edition of Procurement Insight from CGI by Denise Dattomo and Chuks Amajor entitled “Incumbent Negotiations: When and Why” that reviewed 7 situations where incumbent negotiations may be more attractive than competitive procurement which was quite good. Although comprehensive competitive bidding approaches are typically the right way to go, direct negotiations with incumbents might be the the right choice under certain circumstances. CGI has found that, based on their experience, incumbent negotiations yield an average savings of 9%, and sometimes the savings can be (much) higher. Furthermore the effort, and cost, involved in incumbent negotiations is usually lower. The seven situations that are often appropriate for incumbent negotiations are:

• Urgent need for quick results
  An incumbent negotiation can often be accomplished in as little as six weeks.
• Small spend, but high potential ROI
  There are often “quick hit” opportunities in categories with lower spend, especially those that are straightforward goods and services.
• Strategic Vendor Relationship
  For example, if the vendor is also a client.
• Strong end user preference
  An influential end user with a strong preference for an incumbent vendor may refuse to consider switching to a new vendor.
• Significant Market Changes
  If a new, alternative, product is introduced by a competitor, and such product is cheaper, the current vendor may be quite willing to offer concessions in negotiations.
• Prohibitive Switching Costs
  If the savings generated from a new, more competitive, contract could be outweighed by the cost of switching, renegotiation may be the most attractive option.
• Limited Vendor Pool
  If the vendor pool is limited, a competitive bidding event could turn out to be a fruitless endeavor. In such a situation, going directly to an incumbent negotiation might be the best thing to do.