A Perspective on Renegotiating Deals

It can happen to anyone.  You put forth tremendous effort to work a deal, negotiate the terms, and get your counterpart to sign the dotted line.  Then you find out a short time later that the terms of the deal are not going to work.  You have just experienced seller’s remorse.  What happens next?  How do you go about renegotiating the deal?   The following ideas will give you a helpful perspective on renegotiating and how to make that happen.

Think first: Are you willing to lose the deal?

If you feel like you just cannot lose the deal you are better off taking the deal as it is.  This is in part because of the basic psychology of negotiation.  If you are fearful of losing the deal, chances are that fear will carry over into your negotiations and you will lose the deal.  On the other hand, if you are willing to lose the deal you can go back and approach your counterpart with friendly confidence. Explain that you want both parties to be happy in the deal and you are not fully happy.  Make them understand that you want to be able to serve them long term and changing a few numbers will be beneficial to the both of you.

What happens if they don’t agree with you?

Whenever you are renegotiating a deal you run the risk of losing it.  If you stated your reasoning with a polite but firm approach there is nothing more you can do.   If they refuse your request, simply accept the consequences and explain with confidence that you understand where they are coming from and you hope they understand where you are coming from as well.  Tell them that you might not be the right fit.  Explain that while you hate to see this happen, it is better that it happen now rather than several months down the road when you have invested a lot of time and money.  Finally, you should conclude by stating that you believe they could truly benefit if they considered your option but otherwise the deal might not be right.  At this point, you have to be willing to let go of the deal.

Why it is important to go in with a willingness to lose the deal?

The attitude of being able to walk away from a deal is the most important component in winning any negotiation.  That said even if you do not win the negotiation you will maintain credibility.  People will respect your confidence and they might buy from you in the future because they know you are coming from a position of strength and you are not someone who will be easily pushed around.

Negotiating is difficult in itself and renegotiating can be even more challenging.  The most important thing to remember in any negotiation is to appear knowledgeable and confident.  Someone who is strong and stands their ground is more likely to come out on top.  Learning the art of being confident with yourself and thoughtful of your counterpart at the same time is a recipe for negotiating success.