Why Poultry Farmers Need to Master the Art of Negotiation

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As previously discussed in our plethora of articles, poultry farming is a full-time business and for that reason, its entails all elements a normal business has.

You’re producing eggs or raising broilers to sell. The end game is that your end product will get purchased by direct consumers or retailers – either way – you’re expecting to make a return on your investment.

A good business person looks to maximize profit from less investment with efficiency – and the end product not compromised. It’s for this reason that negotiation skills should be one of your key skill-sets as a poultry farmer.

What is negotiation in the first place? Negotiation is a process where two or more parties with different needs and goals discuss an issue to find a mutually acceptable solution. In business, negotiation skills are important in both informal day-to-day interactions and formal transactions such as negotiating conditions of sale, lease, service delivery, and other legal contracts.

So how is negotiation important to you as a poultry farmer? Feed for the birds is estimated to constitute about 60 to 70% of the cost buildup of poultry production. For that reason, it’s important to get your negotiation skills in the upper echelons if you’re to succeed in this industry. The aim is to keep the cost of feed low as much as possible. It all boils down to negotiations. Negotiations here doesn’t mean go to the sellers and ask them to sell their feed to you at a certain price – and that you’re not ready to listen to anything they say.

Remain calm, cool and collected and have a very good conversation with the sellers. You aim to get your cost of production low in other to maximize profit. Try to be friends with these sellers. Have long conversations with them without necessarily talking about business. Let them know that your interest goes beyond business and that you care about them genuinely.

I have a friend who is the CEO of a popular education program in Ghana. He once told me that, before he discusses any business with clients, he spends around 2 hours having general conversations. That has been his trick. He has never looked back since.

That approach can open doors for you. They’ll give you good counsel that will benefit you in the long run.

Don’t be confrontational. Neither should you be emotional or blame the other party if you don’t get exactly what you set out to achieve. These things do not order well for you. Keep your emotions in check once you agree to go into this business.

It shouldn’t just be business as usual. It should be more about the human touch. If you go in strictly for business, the other parties will treat you as such.

Be clear and consistent in your approach during negotiations. Do well to ask plenty of questions, pay so much attention especially to little details and put things into writing. No one has infinite memory.

You must go into negotiations looking to reach a compromise with the other party. It shouldn’t always be about you.

As a poultry farmer, I go into lots of transactions – meaning I meet a lot of people. I go into these transactions prepared for anything that will happen. I try to make the most out of these transactions.

Selling the finished products is very vital. I usually look at satisfying my clients over profit. I often look at the future. I made losses 2 years running because I accepted the prices that the clients offered. I didn’t play hard. It worked out well later. I’m not saying this is the best strategy. Sometimes, you have to lose something to gain something.

You can never downplay the importance of negotiations. Make it a key part of your strategy and trust me, you’ll be on your way to poultry farming greatness.