Negotiating to Create Mutual Benefit

Learning how to negotiate is crucial when working in the music business. As engineers were normally hired for one project at a time so it’s important to know what you need to be able to do our best work. Negotiation can be a very scary process for most of us. One thing that we can do is break it down in to steps to make sure we don’t leave anything out. I found it easiest to break the process into four steps.

Step one is to find out what you need fro the deal. This is the step where you figure out how much money you will spend on the project and how much you need to be paid to make sure you make a profit. You also need to find out how much time you need to get the project done properly.

For step two you need to look at step one and calculate how much you can negotiate on the positions you came up with in step one.  This will allow you to understand when you need to walk away from the negotiation because it’s just not going to benefit you to do the project. One important thing is to understand that money is not the only valuable thing you can gain from negotiations.

The third step is analyzing the other person. Emotions play a huge role in negotiation. Find out what the other person cares about and what their motives are. Understanding this allows you to anticipate their position and stay a step ahead of them in the negotiations. It’s very important when negotiating to understand that nobody has to win or lose. When negotiating we need to try to create mutual benefit. Mutual benefit is when we both parties walk away satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation. This paves the way for a smooth relationship once you start working together.

The fourth step is figuring out what you are going to do if the negotiation goes bad and you walk away. This is your best alternative to negotiated agreement commonly referred to as a “BATNA”. Your BATNA can be as simple as taking a different project or as complicated as quitting your career as a producer to work at your uncles barbershop. The important thing is that you know what you will do if you walk away from the negotiation. You can use your BATNA as leverage in certain situations, in others it might be motivation to try harder to come to an agreement. Negotiations can be difficult and awkward but hopefully these steps will help you in your next negotiation.