Giveaway of Negotiation Genius
This contest is now closed.
The fine folks at FSB Associates send me two copies of Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman’s Negotiation Genius and I’m giving them away to the fine readers of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. If you read my review of Negotiation Genius, you’ll remember that I thought this book was excellent, which isn’t surprising since it’s finds it origins from the Harvard Business School.
So, in order to win you simply need to leave a comment with your one best negotiation tip. It can be a tip when you’re sitting at the negotiation table, it can be a tip about research and preparation, or it can be something pointing to the psychology behind negotiation. I will select one commenter at random and the one comment that I feel is the best negotiation tip of the bunch. The one I feel is the best is entirely subjective, so by entering you agree to the rules as I’ve explained and agree not to contest the results.
This contest will end on 31 October with the ghosts and the goblins and I’ll draw a name the next day.
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30 Comments - Share Your Thoughts
This isn’t particularly creative, but demand something you don’t care about….then give it up. You compromise on something you didn’t want, and they hopefully compromise on something you did.
One of my favorites, about salary negotiation, is “he who states a figure first loses.”
Most negotiations are with people you will be dealing with again; consider a win/win before you consider an “in your face shutdown, BOO YA!” of the other party.
Figure out something you can give up that you actually don’t care about but that the other side desires.
Never sit down at the table unless you’re prepared to get up and walk away from it
in the words of michael scott, go for the win-win-win.
or include something you don’t want anyway- make that the first thing you “give up” in the negotiation.
Silence. Just pure silence. Make a request and then just sit there. They will counter, and you just sit there looking at them. Chances are they’ll start negotiating with themselves for a while b/c it becomes uncomfortable. Until they get to something you will accept in the counter, you just sit there. You can make facial expressions etc, but you say nothing. It’s surprising how effective you can be at negotiating without saying a word simply b/c people become uncomfortable.
Prepare a list of demands, but, more importantly, develop a list that details why your demands are reasonable.
My best negotiating tip is to be willing to give up things you want. Be honest with yourself about what the true outcome of the negotiation needs to be. (For example, when buying a car the outcome for me is a car I enjoy with the features I demand without getting cheated out of money. It’s not to get the perfect car with all the features I merely want and to cheat the dealer out of money.)
(The method of adding something into the demands that you don’t care about or don’t even want always struck me as cheating.)
I have to say the best negotiating tip is to portray that you want to work with the other party. Both sides want to feel like they “won”. Although it is good to pretend an issue is more important to you than it is, the appearance of wanting to work with the party to achieve everyone’s goals is important.
This is especially true in salary negotiations. If you are tough and have no desire to work with your potential future employer to reach an agreement, this will cause problems later on. I know I would think, “This person is tough and that’s great, but we are supposed to be on the same team here.”
Another example is negotiating with a salesman. Berating them and talking down to them will get you no where. Why should they work with you if you are not treating them like a human? The appearance of respecting they need to make a commission will get you further.
You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
My number one negotiating tip is being willing to walk away. This puts them in a position where they are more invested in making the deal work than you are, which is a huge advantage for you. I can’t tell you the number of times where I have started to walk out of a store and had the sales person running back after me!
I like the ‘just ask and see what happens’ mentality.
In any negotiation, he with the most information and time (paitence) wins. So, always do your research before hand and don’t be in a rush!
Long term vision is critical. You can win the battle and lose the war. An extremely one-sided victory can destroy a relationship and wind up being a net loss. I’ve seen this in small, interpersonal negotiations and in large, management versus union negotiations.
My best negotiation strategy is to make an unshakeable inner commitment to the idea that I WILL–through my creativity, flexibility, and ethical behavior–leave the table with both parties happier and more positive than they were when they sat down; that this goal is always attainable; that any lesser result is unacceptable.
I haven’t always been able to do this, but when I have, I have never failed.
Always have experience on your side. If you’ve never bought a car before, try to tag along with someone who is doing just that before you try it yourself. If that is not an option, bring someone who has done it before. Getting tips from people are one thing, but seeing someone implementing some of their own ideas is definitely invaluble teaching.
When negotiating always ask for few things that you really don’t need, then when asked to make Concession, give away those things and still come out getting what you wanted.
Ask for more than you expect to get and you may just get it. Even if you don’t, it gives you wiggle room during the negotiations.
Here is my best negotiating tip: limit your acceptable options and threaten to leave if they cannot be met.
Take Roger Clemens as an example. As a 45-year old pitcher, he was able to extract an amazing $18.5 million from the Yankees AND he had a special clause about not having to travel. I’m pretty sure he made his acceptable options quite unreasonable until the Yankees caved in.
I find this works for regular folks like me too. I know people who are constantly put on good projects ahead of more-qualified employees. This is because those people are the first to complain about boring projects and threaten to do less work if their career objectives are not being met.
I don’t have a good tip, which is why I need this book (I’m going for the random drawing).
I guess my best tip is to know what you really want, and what you’ll accept. Be willing to give up anything that doesn’t fall into those categories in order to get what’s important to you. If you take time to think about these things, you’re negotiation will go much better.
Know the competition so you can think of why your opposition will say yes to your offer. This will help you make the best offer possible for yourself.
I didn’t read through all the comments that are here so not sure if someone already mentioned it….This goes for anything, even a job. May not necessarily be in $$ terms but if you want a company vehicle, ask for it and maybe a gas card and something else. Then after negotiating, hopefully you have still landed the vehicle and just given up the gas card and whatever else you asked for, items that you really weren’t after! This will give you room to move and still get what you want, and the other person will probably be satisfied with what they give you. In fact, they may even think that by giving you the vehicle, they got off easy because they didn’t have to provide a gas card or whatever else you asked for.
get everything that you talked about and agreed to in writing.
Honestly I think the best tip which has worked well with me when purchasing property and cars has been make it seems as if you are not in need of the item you are negotiating over. For example when negotiating the price of a house you want to buy, make it seem as if you don’t mind if you loose out on an offer. On a property purchase last year I really wanted the property, so I made an offer, but it was a really low offer. Roughly $28,000 less than the asking price. The sellers countered with only $18,000 less than the asking price, I said ok fine, not a big deal I can look at another property. 10 mins later I get a call back from the seller’s agent saying they have accepted my original offer. I have had this happen when purchasing used vehicles as well.
Understand what the other party wants and what you want before going in. And be willing to walk away if you are at all uncomfortable. There’s no point in dealing with people who make you uncomfortable.
Try never to have to vote for something. Rather discuss until you find a solution that works for both groups, or the feeling of winners/losers will follow and can create segregation in the workplace.
I agree with alot of the above posts that you have to be willing to walk away. If the deal is not what you want, walk away.
Also don’t be in a big hurry, take your time, and silence is your friend.
Cheers
I would have to say to be always prepared. Do the research beforehand. If you are negotiating your salary, know what people in similar positions are getting paid. If you are negotiating a bargain, research how much the item is really worth beforehand, know how much you are willing to pay for it, and be willing to walk away if it doesn’t match your beforehand researched price. Preparation is key for everything.
My best negotiating skill is as follows when you are talking to a client pause when they say something almost to cause and awkward silence so they explain more about what they are talking about, so you get to elaborate and ramble and you get more info out of them
In my years of negotiating, with family, with employees, with vendors, the most powerful tool was listening. By hearing and processing what the other side is saying, you can not only make good tactical decisions based on their position, but you can validate them in ways that will bring you both closer together.
Acknowledging that the other side has a unique point of view, and that you both have to understand the other’s position can get you to that point of “equilibrium” the economists say is the ideal point of agreement.
Good luck.
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