Business negotiations can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never done them before. Whether you’re making a deal for something simple, building a partnership, or even looking to sell a portion of your company, mastering business negotiation skills is crucial for any entrepreneur.

When you run a business, at some point, you’ll likely find yourself in a negotiation situation. To help you out, Global Resources has six tips for you to lead a successful business negotiation.

Listen Attentively

Listening is a vital element in negotiations. If you’re always talking and never letting the other party speak a word, it’s no longer negotiating. Instead, it’s you just talking about what you want and taking control of everything.

It’s essential to take time to listen attentively to the other party. They may have something important to add to the conversation that could work in both favors. Not only that, you need to have an understanding of what the other party wants to help make a final agreement.

Be Professional and Courteous

Even if the negotiations get a bit heated, keep a level head the entire time. Being professional and courteous to everyone involved will go a long way. Think about it this way – if you’re negotiating with someone who is abrasive, rude, and unprofessional, would you ever want to work with them again? Unless you want to burn bridges, professionalism and courteousness can save and keep business relationships alive.

Come Prepared to Add Value to the Discussion

Business negotiations are important. Otherwise, why would you have them? That means everyone should come to the table prepared and ready to add value to the discussion. Not only that, an entrepreneur’s time is valuable. Don’t be the one that wastes someone’s time by not knowing what is going on.

Have At Least One Draft of the Deal

Whatever the negotiations are about, it’s likely something pretty vital to your company. That is why you don’t want to agree on everything you hear right away. Start with a first draft of the tentative agreement and go from there.

Drawing up a draft allows all parties to analyze everything talked about and pull it apart. Someone may find discrepancies and need to negotiate a bit more before reaching a final deal.

Know When to Walk Away

Although you don’t go into a business negotiation, or any negotiation for that matter, with the intent of no deal being reached and walking away, however, in some instances, that ends up being the case.

If you’re selling something, have a price in mind that you won’t go below. That helps prepare you to walk away from the deal if the other party doesn’t meet you in the middle. Don’t sacrifice your values and business model just to reach a deal.

Conceding Isn’t Always the Best Option

If you’re desperate to reach a deal, you might be tempted to concede to every point and demand the other party’s requests. The downfall to this, the other party may try to push the boundaries to get more out of you since you’ve given in to all of their other requests. Conceding to everything could end up costing you more in the long run.

Business negotiations don’t have to be scary, as long as you come prepared and ready to bargain. Staying confident, professional, and willing to listen will go a long way toward reaching the best deal for all parties involved.