Do you haggle very often? The modern organised, systematised retail environment doesn't often lend itself to haggling (which is how retailers like it, not having to risk being argued down from the price they were asking), but circumstances still arise where there's scope for a little negotiation. Looking for a second-hand car, for example: it's often worth pressing the dealer to find just how little he or she would accept. Or if you're buying a number of items from an electronics store - perhaps a new computer, monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, all together - there's no harm in trying to get a deal from the manager for purchasing the whole bundle from his or her shop.

Even if you've never parleyed over a price, I'm sure you're familiar with the notion of haggling - the intention is to improve your position, to get what you need at less cost. Of course, it means that the seller gets less money, but that's the nature of the beast. Haggling is a contest. And it's a contest that you'd aim to win every time you participate.

Does all negotiation have to have a winner and a loser? Does a good result for you have to mean a bad result for the other party? Not necessarily: if you're negotiating down the price of a used car, then certainly, there's a clear winner and loser. You've got the car on the cheap, and the dealer has potentially been deprived of the opportunity to sell it at a higher price. But what about the computer store? Yes, you've got a good deal, you've saved money on the marked price. However, there's a strong chance that when you need more software or hardware you'll go back to the same store, time and again. So is there a loser in that negotiation? You have the technology you need at a cheeringly low expense, whilst the manager has found a regular customer who'll keep buying his products in future. That, surely, is an outcome in which everyone is a winner.

You'll always want your business to be the winner in any negotiation, whether with a client, a supplier, a potential customer, a union, or any form of governing authority. However, the kind of win that will most benefit your company won't always be the same - and it's very important to be aware of, and differentiate between, those times when you should aim for a clear victory over the other party (a win-lose negotiation) and those when both sides can benefit from a successful discussion (a win-win negotiation).

The former will certainly be in a minority, but they play an important role nonetheless. You should be wary of trying to enforce a win-lose result unless certain that you will have no further dealings with the other party; the only positives your company can gain from a win-lose negotiation will be within the deal on the table, for were any further contact with that party to be necessary their attitude towards your organisation can be expected to be very negative. But in situations where there is that certainty, and the negotiation is without question a one-off, it can be worth pushing your position to get the best possible result for your business.

However, most of your business dealings will probably be with individuals and organisations with whom you intend to work time and again, or at least with whom you'd like to keep the option of further dealings open. The win-win negotiation is, in such cases, critical, for it ought to leave the other party feeling happy with their result, whilst still ensuring a beneficial outcome for your organisation. You'll need to be aware of your company's own circumstances and needs, of course, but also of the other party's. What are your goals, and theirs? What do you and the other party have available to bring to the table to trade, what can you offer that they need and vice versa? What alternatives do you and they have if no agreement is reached, what impact will a failed negotiation have on your businesses both individually and together? Who has the most to lose from failure?

Understanding exactly the intentions and needs of both your company and the other party, and taking an impartial view of the negotiating process, allows you to form both an approach and a solution that will benefit both sides. But that alone isn't everything. Style can often be crucial. In a win-lose negotiation, there is scope for emotion, forcefulness, perhaps even a touch of histrionic behaviour. However, such excesses can ruin any chance of a successful win-win agreement. Both parties need to feel positive after the negotiation, and able to look forward to working together in the future - so dealings have to be conducted in a calm, friendly and positive manner, with no intimidation and no demanding or highly emotional behaviour. And be considerate of the other party's feelings and circumstances, as you would hope they will be of yours; a positive and fair connection is at the heart of all successful win-win negotiations.

Of course, negotiating skills aren't always that easy to develop, and few of us are born with them. Perhaps you might benefit from a short training course in creating a favourable win-win result to a negotiation - and your business would benefit too. Knowing when to fight and when to compromise, when emotions matter and when they should be left behind, when to look to your organisation's goals and when to look to the other party's - all of these skills can play a key role in helping you to negotiate the sometimes rocky path towards a brighter future for your business.