Negotiation is a part of everyday life, whether it’s deliberating on who drives on a night out, what time your children go to bed or which location to choose for a holiday.

So how are your negotiating skills?

When you’re preparing for a negotiation, how do you feel? Nervous? Excited? Ready for a fight?

Your ability to negotiate well is critical to the success of your accountancy firm, as poor negotiation skills can have an impact just as severe as losing key customers.

Whether you love negotiating or, like the majority of us, feel nervous before entering into a negotiation, the fact of the matter is that you can get better at it.

Successful negotiation does not have to be a battle where you must win and the other party must lose.

You will negotiate better agreements when you stop seeing negotiation as an ‘I win, you lose’ type of conflict.

For the long-term success of your business, you should aim to create a courteous and constructive interaction that is a win-win for both parties.