Negotiations are crucial for the success of your business and your own prestige as a businessman. It takes a lot of skill for someone to be extremely smooth in negotiating. Unfortunately, we are not all born with these skills, so things can easily become awkward when you’re trying to attract the interest of a potential partner. Look at the good side of things: negotiating is a skill that can be learned and practiced.
Moreover, business negotiations are an art. And, as any other artist, you need the right tools to express yourself and organize the entire process. Don’t worry; we won’t leave you wandering around the Internet looking for the right tools to use. We collected the most useful online tools that you can start using today. You’ll surprise yourself with the effect they help you achieve.
Tools for Brainstorming
Negotiating is all about convincing someone that your ideas are cool, so you need to present those ideas in an organized manner. A brainstorming chart will help you keep yourself together. Of course, you won’t take that chart out on the table when you talk to the potential business partner or client, but you’ll have it in your head thanks to its memorable visual design.
#1. MindMeister
This is a simple tool that allows you to create a colorful mind map. It’s a collaborative platform, so you can use it together with your team.
#2. Mindomo
Mindomo is another collaborative brainstorming tool, which is similar to MIndMeister. Try them both and use the one you like.
Tools for Creating Surveys
Do you know what will convince people that you have a point? Numbers and data. When you have fresh ideas, you need to prove they would work. Surveying will help you do that.
#3. SurveyMonkey
This is the only surveying tool you’ll ever need use. Zoomerang used to be a nice alternative, but now it’s merged with SurveyMonkey and all new signups are being directed there. With this online tool, you can easily survey your target market for the sake of testing and developing concepts. The information you get will give confidence and power to your statements during the negotiations.
Tools for Data Analysis
The data you present has to be provided in a clean visual format. You can use the following tools for that:
#4. Tableau Public
With this tool, you can create beautiful visualization of all kinds of data. You can store them to your Tableau Public profile and connect with other users, or you can embed your visualizations on the company’s website. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you can always use them when giving presentations and negotiating with a client or business partner.
#5. OpenRefine
If you have really messy data to present, then you need to refine it. With this tool, you can clean it and transform it into any format you need. The website looks a bit pedestrian, but this is still a very powerful open-source tool. You’ll understand how it works with some practice.
Tools for Crafting Presentations
The outcome of the negotiating process depends on the way you present your offer. Without a cool presentation, you’ll have great chances of making everyone fall asleep with your boring speech.
#6. Prezi
This tool has really cool templates that will make your presentation fun and visually-appealing. It’s really easy to use, so you can craft a project with no effort.
#7. SlideDog
With SlideDog, you can create a multimedia presentation by combining your Prezi or PowerPoint project with PDF files, web pages, movie clips, and other types of content into a completely new viewing experience.
Tools for Proofreading and Editing
You can’t have the perfect presentation, document, or email message without proofreading it to perfection. Even professional writers need editors, so it’s time to tame your ego and accept the fact that your grammar and style aren’t perfect. Use these editing tools to fix the flaws:
#8. Proessaywriting
This is a writing and editing service that connects you with experts in a relevant discipline. You’ll get an editor who understands your project and knows how to improve it without affecting your unique voice.
#9. Hemingway App
This editing software is automated, so it’s not perfect. However, it can help you identify minor flaws in simple documents and get rid of the complexity that’s making them incomprehensive.
Tools for Setting and Tracking Goals
What are you trying to achieve with the negotiations? You need to have a specific goal-setting system that will guide you to the results you expect.
#10. Wunderlist
With this simple app, you can create progressive goals that lead you to the ultimate achievement. Although it can be used for keeping track of simple tasks like “go to the hairdresser and get supplies for lunch,” you can turn it into a powerful business tool by turning all negotiation points into achievable goals.
#11. GoalsOnTrack
This is another tool that will help you keep track of your goals and maintain your motivation on high levels. You can assign specific steps to each goal, so they will all look closer than ever.
Tools for Making and Editing Videos
Do you know what’s even cooler than a slide presentation? A video! You can really impress a client by presenting a video of the way a certain product or service functions. You can turn any of your ideas into a video to present it in a convincing way.
#12. Magisto
This tool is meant for creating professional videos that will promote you, your ideas, and your business. It’s exactly what you need to master the art of negotiation.
#13. Animoto
With this video editing software, you can create beautiful campaigns to present your ideas. In addition to crafting marketing videos with it, you can also use it for making mobile and slideshow videos.
Tools that Get You Relaxed
You really need a short relaxation session before important negotiations.
#14. GetRelaxed
There’s nothing complex or unusual with this website: it plays really relaxing music that makes you calm. It will help you soothe your stress levels in minutes.
#15. Calm
There’s nothing more relaxing than the sounds and scenes of nature. As soon as you land at this website you’ll feel your energy levels going up and your anxiety levels going down.
Remember: the art of negotiation has to be practiced. These 15 tools won’t turn you into a charismatic business negotiator overnight, but they will definitely help you trace your way towards that goal.
Image: Business negotiations intensified tensions
