Why is having a negotiation mindset so crucial to best practice PR? Here are four aspects of best practice PR that you’ll also find on the negotiations training courses.

PR is about give-and-take

Why is give-and-take so important? PR practitioners work with the media to manage clients’ reputations and to place their best features in the spotlight. PR is all about working with other parties, and all negotiations comprise at least two negotiators. PR agencies will be most successful when they’re planning give-and-take conversations. This requires that you be clear on what you’re going to give, as well as what you’re going to ask for in return.

Salvaging reputations is a good example of when give-and-take is necessary. Since PR often involves managing negative news about clients, firms know that it is best to tread carefully when talking with the media about what they plan to publish.

Navigating complex situations with utmost diplomacy is hard enough; practitioners who try to manipulate perceptions without considering the rights and predictable responses of the public will likely soon be out of a job or without their client. Without a give-and-take attitude, the client’s reputation may end up even worse off.

Negotiated interactions are 'win-win'

If a high-performing PR agency strategically helps clients to communicate with their audience successfully, then the agency will be coloring every interaction with a win-win negotiation mentality.

PR is not just about salvaging reputations, it’s also about building them. Clients will share with the PR firm the messages and values they want to get across, trusting the firm to pitch these well-crafted messages to the media.

If a journalist has qualms about a story’s impact, that’s an example of when skilled sales negotiation comes into play. The story may benefit the client, but how will that story be perceived by the public — and the publication printing it?

A win-win situation means all parties walk away with something they want or need: the organisation can showcase its positive elements, the media get to have their say on how that’s presented and the public gets a factual representation of a company of which they may someday be a customer.

With a win-win negotiation mentality, PR firms know to work towards a deal that is mutually beneficial.

It adds value to clients and the media 

Sales negotiation training often talks about 'creating value'. In other words, at the end of the negotiation, both parties are better off than when they started. Adding value in negotiations usually requires the sharing of information.

If you expect to receive information, you must also be willing to give information. In fact, negotiation trainers share that one of the best ways in which to get information is to start by sharing information.

A PR agency that is open about its clients' current position and future goals will most likely receive better insight into the media’s agenda, and how agendas may complement or conflict with each other. Sharing information is an essential route to building or rebuilding trust.

The grocery store chain Whole Foods provides a useful example. Whole Foods’ customers stomach higher prices because they care about buying non-GMO products. When Whole Foods was accused of mislabeling shoppers to believe that their produce was not genetically modified, Whole Foods decided to be more transparent.

Currently, the chain is working toward full GMO transparency and will be the first national grocery chain to do so. This move is helping its reputation, a win for Whole Foods and its PR team.

Healthy negotiations build relationships

Creating value leads to strengthened professional relationships and brand trust. Healthy relationships and brand trust are indispensable ingredients to a PR pro’s success.

Successful campaigns demand a mutual understanding of goals and a willingness to listen. Successful PR involves bridge-building and the recognition that a healthy relationship with the media benefits everyone: the client, the media and the public.

Having a trained negotiation mentality will benefit those in the PR field, as the profession utilises topics found in any good sales negotiating class: give-and-take conversations, win-win solutions, a desire to create value and building professional relationships and respected brands.

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