That was the advice from negotiation expert Paddy Spruce to growers at last week’s Birchip Cropping Group expo preparing for wheat’s new marketing environment.

“I truly believe there is something that can be taken out of each transaction, especially if you stop thinking about it in strictly monetary terms and look to find other ways you can add value to the deal,” Mr Spruce said.

“It doesn’t need to be just the price, but the process which can be changed.

“That could mean changing the terms in which deal is done in a way that can benefit you.

“There are lots of instances I have seen where a deal appears to be cast in stone, but by being aware of the other party’s interests you may find there is room to move after all.”

As an example, Mr Spruce cited a time he had managed to secures extras in a car he was buying by writing a letter of commendation for the salesman for him to display, which added value to the deal for the salesman without Mr Spruce having to spend more money.

One of the other key themes Mr Spruce had was not to get bogged down in an adversarial “win-lose” mentality. “There is such a thing as a win-win deal, especially when you are dealing with a person on a repeat basis, as I am sure many of you will want to be with the grain marketers,” he said.

“It is unusual, but two parties can come up with a collaborative approach that can work for both.

“If not, you need to look at solutions such as the Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) theory and see if you can compromise to come up with a deal that is acceptable for both.

“When negotiating, you should never settle for anything less than BATNA for yourself, and make sure you don’t back yourself into a corner where the deal ends up being a lose-lose proposition.”

Similarly, Mr Spruce said nothing was wrong with brokering a deal where you did not come out on top if it meant you set up a rapport with the other party that could be used at other times.

“By accommodating them, by yielding something in the deal that you don’t necessarily need, you might be able to get some advantage out of it another time.”