True success lies within a win-win business model. No matter the aspect of life, only when you start to give back to others is when you begin to see the benefits of the world.
For instance, if you want your children to be happy, you give them love and affection, toys, etc; for your spouse to be happy you also need to give them love and spend time with them. To have happy employees you show appreciation for their efforts and give them opportunities, challenges, and benefits.
And if you want a successful relationship with a supplier, a partner, or a client you always make sure that both parties benefit from the relationship, so that they not only come back for more of your services or products but also so that they trust you enough to tell their acquaintances to do business with you.
It’s not necessary for the other party to lose something for you to gain something. If both parties give something of interest to the other, they both end up winning: That’s called a win-win situation.
For your company to succeed in the current business world, it needs to give back to others. Give back to your employees (attractive salaries, appreciation, compensation, and challenges), partners (a nice ROI), clients (quality, benefits, solutions, trust), and your community (respect, responsibility, and a helping hand). When you find win-win situations in these four aspects, your company will be attractive enough for success to automatically come to you.
Remember, you get back what you give, so start by being generous and success will flow your way.
A Win-Win is always the best strategy
Win-win strategies encourage the development of a healthy working relationship between all parties in a negotiation. All parties in a win-win negotiation feel as though they can work toward a common benefit. This common goal allows each member of a win-win negotiation to collaborate and may consider collaborating with the opposite party in future negotiations.
They also allow you to expand your customer base through positive word-of-mouth recommendations, assure you gain something from negotiations, and develop innovative solutions.
So if you’re interested in developing your business using a win-win model as its core, here are a few ideas to get your gears turning:
1. Focus on solutions.
Instead of trying to think of what kind of business you want to start, first, ask yourself, What issues am I passionate about? What deep needs in the world can I help address? It may turn out that your passion for a particular issue may lead you to the right type of business to uniquely address it.
2. Manage expectations.
Managing expectations throughout a negotiation can help create a win-win result in which all parties feel as though they’ve benefited.
It’s important in a win-win negotiation to avoid escalating the expectations of the other party by offering large concessions early in the negotiation process. Consider keeping any contract concessions small at the beginning of your negotiating process to ensure a beneficial outcome.
3. Hear and be heard.
Try to allow your counterparts to voice their opinions, acknowledge the other party’s perspective, and suggest alternatives to your ideas. After the negotiation is complete, consider providing your counterpart with a detailed explanation of the outcome.
Remember that even if the outcome is less than favorable for someone, people may feel satisfied with their deal when they feel respected throughout the negotiation process. Respect can help everyone maintain a positive work environment and ensure satisfaction.
5. Multiple offers.
Presenting multiple offers that you believe are equally valuable is an effective win-win strategy.
Allowing your counterparts to choose from multiple offers can provide important clues about what they value most. This information is helpful during future negotiations. This strategy also helps you emphasize your ability to accommodate, remain flexible and fulfill the desires of the other negotiating parties.
6. Matching rights.
A matching right is a guarantee that one party can match any offer the other party receives at a later time.
For example, lease negotiations between a landlord and tenant often include a matching right. If the landlord wants the right to sell the apartment at a future date, they may offer their renter a matching right that allows them to offer the same amount as any potential buyer’s offer. This arrangement allows the landlord to consider new offers and allows a tenant to avoid an abrupt move, resulting in a win-win situation.
7. Contingent agreement
A contingent agreement is a negotiated “if-then” promise that helps reduce risks that may arise from future uncertainties.
Essentially, both parties in a contingency agreement agree to move forward in their relationship while maintaining differing opinions on the future. Such agreements often include incentives for parties who comply or penalties for parties who don’t comply with contract terms.
For example, if a customer is nervous that a moving company might be late with a delivery, they could create a contingent contract that rewards the moving company with extra money for timely delivery or a penalty for late delivery.
8. Contract penalties
It’s typically impossible for negotiating parties to anticipate all possible events or contingencies associated with negotiation.
With this win-win strategy, parties can agree to a damages clause that clearly explains the penalties for breaching the contract. This clause can help all parties avoid unnecessary litigation by establishing rules for future dispute resolution.
It allows negotiating parties to feel more secure if they know there are penalties for breaching a contract.
9. Post-contract settlement
Parties may choose to use this win-win strategy after an agreement, and it requires all parties to review the contract and search for potential areas of improvement.
During a post-contract settlement, all parties have the ability to reject any revised deal if it doesn’t benefit them. This strategy allows all parties to renegotiate non-beneficial terms and increases trust between partners.
10. Outside assistance
Occasionally, a third party can help develop a win-win solution. A third party can help both sides of the negotiation develop innovative concessions and solutions that benefit everyone. A third party can also suggest proposals and options not previously considered by the original negotiating parties.
Third parties also allow both sides of a negotiation to share sensitive information, providing trust and fairness to challenging negotiations. To decrease the chance of mistakes and individual gains, it’s important to choose an outside negotiator who’s neutral to each party involved in the negotiation.
11. Build good directly into your product.
Link your business with non-profits and/or foundations so you can donate a portion of sales to help provide to your community and also communities around the world. Customers are more likely to spend when a social benefit is attached to a potential purchase, making for a rock solid case that contributing to the greater good isn’t just a boost for the image…it’s also great for business.
If you are an entrepreneur, a win-win deal means having a golden opportunity. That’s why here, in Freelancelatam, we focus on giving win-win opportunities to both our clients and our freelancers. If you are looking to create more win-win opportunities for your business, check out our website and discover all the benefits that our freelancers can bring to your business!
