The primary barrier to a successful negotiation is trust; or rather, the lack thereof. Reaching an agreement when one or both parties is unsure of the other is a difficult endeavor. In his recent article for Inc., attorney and BigSpeak’s EVP Ken Sterling shares three ways to establish trust for negotiating better business deals:

1. Seek out established and reputable businesses to partner with. This may seem obvious, but if you can go into the negotiation knowing ahead of time that your potential partner has a good reputation, some pressure is taken off your shoulders.
2. Establish some rapport with selected partners to build a connection rather than moving straight to business. Sterling recommends doing light research on future partners to find out their interests and arriving a few minutes early to meetings to get in a few minutes of socializing.
3. Establish your own trustworthiness as a business entity with “props” that vouch for your credibility and skills, such as framed degrees, business recognitions, and other trappings of success that lend you legitimacy.