Why Negotiation Training is a Better Investment than an MBA |
Posted: January 16, 2019 |
For years you may well have been told that an MBA is the best option when it comes to equipping yourself for the real world. With prices rising all the time and new training avenues open, this is no longer the case. Read on to hear why a negotiation course is often a better option. Academia is no substitute for the real worldIf you take a negotiations training session you won’t feel like you’re locked in a classroom. These kinds of courses are about acquiring negotiating skills that have been proven to work in the real world. MBAs are great, in that they teach you the background theory, but they don’t convey all that much about interacting with clients. If the professor delivering the negotiation module on your MBA has direct business experience, doesn’t do too much of the talking, is engaging and delivers personalised coaching feedback - you’re lucky. Conversely, negotiation experts facilitating your short training course would not have a job unless they consistently achieve rave reviews from participants. If you want to sign a contract at the right price, you need to be able to negotiate. It’s all well and good knowing all of the specific terminologies, but you still need to be persuasive to successfully get a deal over the line. Knowing strategies is essential, but personal touches make the differenceThere is a growing school of thought that says MBAs are old news. While an MBA still has a lot to offer, a few days training on a negotiation workshop can equip you with real-world skills faster. Passing exams and understanding detailed theory looks impressive on a CV, but it doesn’t tell an employer how you perform. If an interviewer wants to know how you interact with clients, an MBA doesn’t tell them very much. If on the other hand, you have taken a negotiation class, the interviewer will have a much better idea. By showing evidence of practical negotiating skills, you will be able to standout for all the right reasons. Negotiation training offers you far more real-world opportunitiesA negotiation workshop is about much more than a quick confidence booster or refresher. You will deal with realistic client-customer scenarios, and learn how to manage them to your advantage. By discussing prices, making offers, and arriving at a deal, you’ll be able to see how negotiations naturally unfold. Practice sessions will allow you to put your skills into use in scenarios that draw your attention to subtle differences. A quick insight here, a change in tact there, and before you know it you will be equipped with the negotiation skills businesses want. Think of negotiation courses as a valuable opportunity to practice your skills before you’re in front of real customers. That way you’ll be able to get the most out of every class. You may have to wait over a year to reap the benefits from improved negotiation skills from your MBA. Whereas you can enjoy better deal-making abilities in a matter of days from a commercial negotiation training course. When it comes to proving your value to your managers and leaders, negotiation training delivers results faster and more cleanly than any other training. So you’ll be in no doubt as to whether your training in negotiation was what made the difference. The right training course can be completed in a week or lessAnother significant drawback of an MBA is that it will typically take over a year for you to complete. While this level of investment in time is worth it from some people’s point of view; it may not be for you. Negotiation classes typically require less than a week. If you want to learn practical skills, skills you can take into any negotiation, then this is a better approach than an MBA. Training allows you to acquire the skills you need and enables you to put those skills into practice straight away. No amount of studying or bookwork will ever prepare you for your first real-world negotiation. There will be plenty of things you will wish you had done differently. But the main point is that you will have built the confidence necessary to agree a highly complex negotiation by yourself, or leading a team. Starting learning in the real world sooner rather than later is the best way to improve your skills. MBAs can saddle you with loans and debt for years to comeThe final thing to say about MBAs is that they’re very costly. In some cases, they’re actually cost-prohibitive. What you need to do is decide whether you want to return to your working life with debts and loans. Or alternatively, you can save for a short period of time by taking a negotiating course. The art of negotiation workshops and courses are ultimately more affordable than an MBA. Furthermore, once taken, you can deploy your negotiation skills in the job market immediately. That means that you can train faster, and earn more quickly, by undertaking negotiation training instead of pursuing an MBA.
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