The art of negotiation

Alan Millin: nothing wrong in 'less for more'

Although multi-skilled, Alan Millin, MSc. CEng FIHEEM, says facilities managers’ skills around the negotiation table need to be honed if they are to get more for less, and do less for more – but all in an atmosphere of mutual respect and benefit...

Consumers of facilities management services are discerning customers. What they were satisfied with yesterday, they want improved today. What they paid for FM service wise yesterday is often seen as too high today. They want to pay less today for a higher quality service than they received yesterday. We should not be surprised or offended by this, it is simply business.

The customer will always try to get more for less. The more we give, the more they will take; naturally.

As providers of FM services, we too are trying to reduce the cost of doing business to maintain or improve margins. We strive to provide the required service at minimum cost. Put another way, we want to deliver more for less.

When we are trying to win new contracts we want more for less. That is, we would like to earn as much money as possible for as little output. Again, there is nothing wrong with this. We are, after all, in business to make money, just like our clients, but we do need to demonstrate value if we want someone to buy our services.

Good FMs are experts at doing more with less and more for less, whether constrained by in-house budgetary limits or external factors. We are, therefore, just the same as our clients, we want more for less.

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How to get more for less

So how de we get more for less as we face today’s harsh financial realities?

When negotiating a contract each party will be aiming for the same goal: more for less. The ability to negotiate well is therefore a valuable tool to have at our disposal.

Facilities managers are, out of necessity, multi-skilled professionals. But just how multi-skilled are we? How multi-skilled can we become? When does the learning curve straighten out? Can it ever straighten out? It seems that the more we do, the more we are expected to do.

Our skill sets are never complete, but do we focus too much on the technical side of FM skills when we prepare our personal development plans? Do we adequately consider our soft skills needs when we perform our own training needs analysis strategy?

Negotiating is a key skill that few of us are adequately trained in. How often have you attended negotiations where the other party has asked for more and more in return for less and less?

How often have you or your team conceded too much too easily around the negotiating table? Skilled negotiators are trained. They know how to probe for weakness, what to ask for, how hard to push and, importantly, when to back off. They also know how to counter the other party’s demands.

Start negotiating

Remember that if you concede something and get nothing in return the other party will ask for more, you will have exposed your weakness. They will keep asking until you finally have to dig in and refuse their demands or actually start negotiating, something you should have done at the outset.

With only a little training you will be equipped to see the other party’s demands and probing questions coming before they even voice them. You will have your answers ready before you get to the meeting.