5 Tips to make your Negotiation Skills Better!

In our day-to-day lives, we often face situations where we should negotiate with other people for various reasons. It might be a personal or business, internal like salary or external like selling negotiation, or a discussion to find an answer to a question. When we negotiate, we hope and thrive to result the negotiation in a positive outcome especially working for us.

Here are 5 important tips to help yourself improve your negotiation skills.

Listening

Listening is very important in any communication, be it business or personal. Especially if it relevant to business, it is very important that you listen to the other party. Comprehend the information or message they are trying to convey. More importantly don't interrupt unless you find it extremely necessary. If you listen, they might just answer almost all of your questions for you.

   

Seek Answers by Asking Questions:

Being smart,  you need to know how and when to ask questions and they need to be relevant to the topic of the discussion. Understand all the required background details related to the discussion, beforehand if possible. Infer what the party, you are talking to, has to say and i you have any doubts, verify them with the party so that there are no misunderstandings.

Asking questions is the one of the most straightforward way of encouraging active participation.

Do Some Research

As mentioned above, before the scheduled time of negotiation, get relevant and required information that you can present in order to validate your negotiations. Numbers speaks better than words. Present the required statistics for your negotiation. For business negotiations, research on all the details about the company, learn about the factors surrounding their offer and, if possible, affirm the information you have got relating to their business proposal.

 

Be Patient

Don’t think that after the first meeting everything will be confirmed and you will reach a final decision. If you or the other person are still undetermined, then you have to schedule another meeting so that both of you can discuss over the considered information from the first meeting. By now, you will have more information and idea about how it will go. Being patient is the key here.

 

Understand the Other Party

Don't be narrow-minded. Learn to understand the situation from the other party’s perspective. You should also prepare to walk away if you think a successful negotiation is not possible. Stop the deal if necessary so that the other party can see that you have a strong will and are serious about the negotiation. This can often put you in a stronger position as the other side will have to ask you to resume negotiations if they wish to carry on working towards an agreement.

Good communication skills, open-mindedness and preparation are some of the most important factors in securing a positive outcome from a negotiation.

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4 Important Elements to measure your Online Marketing Success!

Businesses often wonder if their online marketing is successful.  Here are a few metrics which may help your business measure online marketing success.

1. New Business and Increased Revenue

This is the ultimate sign of a successful marketing campaign. While driving traffic to your site, gaining relevant social media followers and building your base of inbound leads are all steps in the right direction, the main goal is to grow your firm. When you see an increase in new business and revenue from leads which originated online, it’s a safe bet that your online marketing is successful. However, if you aren’t gaining new business opportunities as a result of your marketing efforts, it might be time to re-evaluate. For instance, if you notice an increase in the amount of traffic to your website, but not a higher number of inbound leads, it might be time for a website redesign. Why? Bounced traffic is an indicator that your homepage lacks clarity and/or engaging conversions. Or, if your content is frequently being read and downloaded, but your prospects aren’t taking the next step, you might want to re-evaluate your calls-to-action.

2. Followers and Shares

Before beginning a new marketing campaign, take a moment to track your existing number of followers across each of the social media platforms currently employed. With this knowledge, you will be able to assess the degree to which your latest marketing efforts have increased the firm’s visibility. It is also helpful to know the average number of shares your content generates, as this will tell you which types of content generate the most interest.

3. Website Traffic

A primary goal of online marketing is to drive traffic to your website. It is therefore essential to know what your traffic numbers are prior to any campaign. If your website begins to see more traffic after the initiation of a campaign, this is a good indicator that your marketing efforts are working. Monitor the sources of your inbound traffic to identify the sites or pieces of content that are bringing in the most traffic, and use this information to plan future campaigns.

4. Inbound Leads

The actions your prospects take in reaction to your marketing efforts are one of the best ways to measure your success. When more people reach out to your firm for consultations or fill out contact forms, it’s a sign of a successful campaign. If your list of prospects and influencers is growing, your marketing is doing its job. All of your online activity—from the content you produce, to your social media interactions—should work towards driving more prospects and influencers to reach out to your firm and show interest in your services. Your prospects might show interest by simply sharing their contact information or signing up for a webinar, or they might ask for an appointment to see one of your sales people.

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4 Steps to execute a Business Plan Effectively!

Failing to plan, plan to fail. We all know this. However, many businesses who create a strategy or business plan fail to execute it to any significant degree. This is because it requires change, commitment, innovation, leadership and numerous other things to align your business in a way that facilitates the execution of your plan.

These 4 steps will help you to successfully execute your business strategy:

Clarify your vision

Image Source: PanoramaStock.com

 

Define what the business will look like if your strategy is executed successfully. Develop a summary of that vision and communicate it to all stakeholders. Communication must also be consistent - keep the vision in front of your team and make it a part of their daily lives. People cannot follow you successfully if they don't know where you want to go.

Set goals

 

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As part of your planning process, you should develop 4 or 5 critical goal categories. Each of these categories should be broken down and given specific goals with due dates, metrics to show progress and the names of the people that are accountable for their completion.

Align systems and people

 

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This is the step where most businesses encounter trouble with strategy execution, as they do not take the critical step of aligning people and processes to attain their vision. They just assume that the firm will "figure it out". All systems, people, incentives and business processes must be aligned with the new strategy. People must understand what they need to do and how their role affects successful execution of the strategy. They must get help in establishing priorities on what to do, as well as what not to do, to ensure that the overall strategy doesn't get lost in the day-to-day.

Review

 

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The business should hold annual reviews of their current strategy and how outside forces have impacted on it. The aim of the review should be to determine whether the strategy is still valid, whether the firm is making adequate progress and what customers think. Strategy execution doesn't just happen; it must be driven with the same commitment that built the business in the first place.

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Managing Difficult Employees

Effectively managing hard employees can be a challenging prospect. Whether it is the employee who is consistently late, who complains incessantly or who seems to constantly upset their co-workers, every company must deal with difficult employees.

These situations drain management's time and energy, impact on the morale of co-workers and interfere with overall workplace productivity. The key to effectively addressing such situations begins with an understanding of the issues and a clear identification of the actual source of the problem.

Even the best employee can have an off-day (or week, or month). Before deciding if an employee is difficult, managers must first step back and neutrally assess the situation. The first question to ask is whether the behaviour is critical enough to implement a formal HR process. Another important concept to consider is that ‘different’ does not equal ‘difficult’. There will always be employees that a manager does not gel with, understand or even like. However, this is not enough to deem an employee difficult. To constitute a "difficult employee", behaviour must exceed acceptable standards, policies and procedures or interfere with productivity.

Define the Problem

When addressing the problems created by difficult employees, the focus should always be on job performance. It is management's duty to clearly explain why the issue is a problem, and how the problem is adversely impacting the company. At this stage it may be useful to refer to the employee's job description and the company handbook.

Clarify Roles

It is important that both the manager and employee are absolutely clear on individual roles. The manager's role is to ensure business success by leading, coaching and supporting employees. The employee's role is to meet predefined performance and behaviour standards, and function as a cooperative team member. A key concept that employees must grasp is that it is not only the level of their performance that is important, but also how their performance affects the functioning of their team, department and the company overall.

Identify Expectations

This is where the manager should clarify four things – the employee’s performance, responsibilities, impact of their behaviour and the consequences if it doesn’t change. A follow up and ongoing review should be scheduled and regular updates between the manager and the employee will help to move things forward and get the employee back on track.

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Autumn Statement 2014: Surprise Announcements - What you need to know!

Autumn Statement 2014: surprise announcements on restriction of Entrepreneur's Relief on incorporation and new Stamp Duty Banding.

Income Tax

Personal allowance increased to £10,600 for 2015/16 (a £100 increase on the previously stated £10.500).

Higher rate threshold to be increased to £42,385 from April 2015.

NI upper earnings and upper profit limits will increase in line with the higher rate threshold

Confirmed no changes to come into effect before April 2017, relating to restricting the personal allowance for non-residents.  Any changes will be subject to further consultation.

Remittance Basis

In the next Parliament, the remittance charge for non-UK domiciled individuals is set to increase for longer UK residence. The basic charge of £30,000 will remain unchanged, but for non-doms who have been resident in the UK for 12 out of the past 14 years, it will be increased to £60,000, and for those UK resident for 17 of the previous 20 years, it will increase to £90,000.

Pensions

From April 2015, the 55% tax charge on inherited pensions is withdrawn, allowing unused pension pots to be passed on tax free.

Joint life or guaranteed term annuities will also be able to be passed on tax free where death occurs before age 75.

Corporation Tax

Creative sector reliefs

Reliefs extended to include a new children’s TC tax relief from April 2015.

Consultation announced to introduce a new orchestra relief from April 2016.

R&D Relief

Tax credit for small and medium companies increased from 225% to 230% and the credit will be increased from 10% to 11% from 1 April 2015.

From 1 April 2015, the costs of materials incorporated in products that are sold will be excluded from relief.

New advanced assurance scheme to be introduced for small businesses making their first claim and new guidance to be developed.

Employers and employees

Government to review the use of employment intermediaries ‘umbrella companies’ with a view to introducing possible counteraction measures in Budget 2015.

In addition to the removal of NIC’s form under 21’s from April 2015, with effect from April 2016, employers will not have to pay NI contributions for apprentices aged under 25 earning up to the Upper Earnings Limit.

From April 2015 the £2,000 annual NI ‘Employment Allowance’ is extended to households that employ care and support workers.

Proposals to introduce a new form of employee shareholding vehicle in order to reduce the costs for employee controlled companies have been shelved for the time being. Consultation revealed a lack of interest amongst employers and share scheme specialists. Plans to change the definition of marketable securities have also gone back to the drawing board.

Capital Gains Tax

NEW – Entrepreneurs Relief (ER) will no longer be available on the disposal of goodwill on transfer of a business to a related close company (incorporation). The measure has effect for transfers on or after 3 December 2014.

ER will now be allowed where a qualifying gain, which has been deferred into investments qualifying for Enterprise Investment Relief (EIS) and Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR), is subsequently realised.

Stamp Duty

NEW - Significant changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) regime

The old rules whereby the rate of SDLT would be determined by the purchase price of the property and applied to it in full (known as the ‘slab’ system) has been abolished with effect from 4 December 2014.

The new rules introduce a banding system whereby the SDLT is determined by the rate applicable to the amount of the overall purchase price which falls within a given band (akin to the current income tax system)

The new bandings and rates are;

0 -125,000	0%
125,001 – 250,000	2%
250,001 – 925,000	5%
925,001 -1,550,000	10%
1,500,001 and over	12%

Transitional provisions are in place where contracts have been exchanged but not completed, which allow the purchaser to choose whether to apply the old or new rules.

Enveloped properties

From 1 April 2015 the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) will be increased;

£2m-£5m	£23,350
£5m-£10m	£54,450
£10m-£20m	£109,050
£20m and over	£218,200

VAT

From April 2015, search and rescue and air ambulance charities will be eligible for VAT refunds, and hospice charities will also receive refunds for VAT incurred.

Inheritance Tax

The government will not introduce a single settlement nil-rate band for trusts, but will target avoidance through the use of multiple trusts in Finance Bill 2015.

IHT exemption for members of armed forces extended to members of emergency services and humanitarian aid workers responding to emergency situations.

Others

ISA’s

ISA limit increased to £15,240 with effect from April 2015.Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund limits increased to £4,080.

From 3 December 2014, an ISA holder can pass their ISA benefit to their spouse or civil partner on death. The additional ISA allowance will be equal to the value of the savers ISA holdings at the date of their death. This is in addition to thesurvivor’s own normal ISA limits.

Business Rates

‘High street discount’ increased from £1,000 to £1,500 from April 2015 to March 2016.

Small Business Rate Relief doubled for a further year.

Check these resources for more information:

Autumn Statement 2014: 16 things you should know

Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement 2014 speech