Mark Cranstoun of Total Negotiation Group on the enduring value of negotiation in today's business world

Today's business world is very much built on shifting sands with the old certainties long swept away by progress and technology, which is why the value of negotiation as a skill is increasing in value to both companies and their employees.

The benefits that negotiation can bring to a company’s performance was spotted by Mark Cranstoun early in his career which has seen spells at global market leaders including Diageo, Mars and NatWest.

Mark set up Henley-on-Thames based Total Negotiation Group in 2009 with business partner Mark Grice, when he was in his late thirties.

Total Negotiation Group helps companies with business negotiation problems including improving P+Ls, cutting supply chain costs, ensuring price increases while also improving the capability of sales teams.

More than fifty per cent of the Total Negotiation Group's clients are in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector with business also coming from other industries including pharma, travel, telecoms and banking.

The team’s most unusual experience was helping a UK Premier League football team with their January transfer window activity.

“The trick in a negotiation is to win 3-2 but the other side feels that you've drawn 2-2. If I beat you 7-0 in a negotiation then next time you will want to beat me 8–0 – that isn’t a healthy or sustainable position.”

Alongside its Henley-on-Thames base, the company also has a Canadian office in Montreal and franchise partnerships around Europe, the Gulf states and in Australia and New Zealand.

Mark said: "I am a great believer that the most successful people in life are those that have the greatest flexibility of interpersonal styles.

"The most important step in becoming a good negotiator is to understand yourself, if you can’t do that then you won't be able to understand anyone else.

"People think that being a great negotiator is bullying and shouting at someone when it's really not."

The demand for negotiation amongst companies in the UK and beyond is reflected in the growth of Total Negotiation Group which went from a turnover of £300,000 in its first year in 2009 to close to £8 million 13 years later.

Overseas expansion sees global growth and diversification

The two Marks started the business working out of their contact books, however the real growth came when they started to expand into international markets and offer Total Negotiation Group courses in different languages.

This opened the door to more multinationals who were keen for one firm to teach the same negotiation skills at their offices around the world.

The company has also branched out from negotiation into other services including selling skills, customer account management, trade terms and revenue management.

Mark said: "We thought long and hard about expanding our services, as customers initially liked the purity of our business.

"However, when we do a great job for someone in negotiation, they wanted us to provide other services. We realised if we didn't expand then we would be allowing others in.”

Mark said that the best negotiators look to achieve outcomes that increase the value for everyone involved in the negotiation.

“Great negotiators grow the size of the pie”

He said: "For too long negotiation has been about negotiating around share of the pie, however great negotiators grow the size of the pie. Suppliers need to realise that even though retailers push back on cost price increases they also need them to maintain or grow their own profit.”

Total Negotiation Group runs off-the-shelf and bespoke courses that are adapted to differing and specific customer needs.

Their programme is based around a ten-step process geared around complex negotiations with a six-step process in place for simpler negotiations.

Mark and the team encourage course participants to engage with the shifting landscape that negotiations often take place in and appreciate the different views involved.

He said: "We encourage people to have a kaleidoscopic view of the negotiation where they see different shapes and patterns.

"Everybody sees something different and what you see will change over a period of time. Nothing is ever static and the more perspectives you can get then the more effectively negotiate.

"People get so fixated on their own side of the argument and great negotiators are able to plan for and anticipate what the other person is looking for."

Once the ‘negotiator’ mindset has been established, Mark and his team work with participants so that they gain an appreciation of the variables that exist in all negotiations.

A negotiation involving a buying house may involve one variable whereas one between a supplier and a supermarket may involve dozens.

He said: "You should consider what type of negotiation you are going to have and what you are prepared to do and commit to. Be clear on your objectives and what are the variables that can change during a negotiation.

"Also consider what are the risks of the negotiations and do you need to change the balance of power? Some negotiations take place over a significant amount of time and you need to consider what your stance will be over multiple phases."

Mark said caution should be applied to the outcome of negotiations where it is clear you have ended up with a significantly better deal than the other party.

A delegate in the travel sector, Mark said, once negotiated a 40 per cent discount off the price of a widget only for the company to go bust two years later leaving only one industry supplier.

This led to the original company having to pay 60 per cent more for the original product.

"In real life business situations, what you do today does have an impact tomorrow, he said.

“The trick in a negotiation is to win 3-2 but the other side feels that you've drawn 2-2. If I beat you 7-0 in a negotiation then next time you will want to beat me 8–0 – that isn’t a healthy or sustainable position.”

Total Negotiation Group shifted to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) model in March last year which gave the company's 36 employees indirect ownership of the company.

The EOT model is proving popular in the UK as a means of attracting talent, keeping companies in communities and ensuring that staff share in the success of the firm.

Mark said: "We have been approached by bigger consulting firms and a lot of people that join our business do so because they don’t want to be in a big consulting firm.

"We didn't want to get taken over, get folded in and then in a few years' time there is nothing recognisable left.

"An EOT allowed us to secure an exit and we are working hard on bringing in the management team that will be here when Mark and I finally leave."