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Win-Win Is an Easy Sell

A win-win approach can make you a winner in selling your ideas. When people believe you have their interests at heart, and you are open about your own, you set the stage for trust. Remember that people buy in to ideas and people they trust.

If you’ve come to the table determined to find a win-win, your focus will be squarely on that goal, rather than pushing your own ideas. That means you will need to take a page out of author Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and “seek first to understand.” Simply put, you will need to focus on others before you can “seek to be understood,” and start lobbying your own ideas.

Yet ironically, when you show you genuinely want to help others in the group get what they want, you’ll find that most people are willing to give you what you want. Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but if you have reasonable requests and realistic expectations, you will be pleasantly surprised at how accommodating others are willing to be—and how easily you can accomplish a win-win.