62 ways to Negotiate a Better Deal
Richard Mulvey
Published by Richard Mulvey at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Richard Mulvey
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Table of Contents
3. Watch for rigidity in your opponent
5. Lower your opponents aspirations
6. Both sides want to reach an agreement
7. Avoid positional bargaining
8. Separate the people from the problem
9. Know your weaknesses and strengths
10. Know their weaknesses and strengths
14. Have someone to refer back to
16. Prepare a “no deal alternative”
21. You will not win all the issues
22. When your honesty is questioned...
23. Buyers and sellers are different
25. Try the good guy / bad guy routine
26. Understand your opponent’s point of view
27. In a stale mate, try “what ifs”
28. Never tell them what you wouldn’t do
30. Never split the difference
32. Avoid sitting opposite your opponent
35. Difficult people don’t get the best deals
36. Once you’ve got an agreement, leave
38. It is easier to sell at a higher price
39. No deal is better than a bad deal
41. Get agreement in principle first
42. Walk away from last minute changes
43. When saying no, don’t explain
44. Pretend the gun to your head isn’t loaded
45. Look for an opportunity to concede
48. Negotiate with the decision maker
52. Lower your voice when being tough
53. Avoid taking notes if you can
55. Never threaten but be persuasive
58. Start with a ridiculously low (or high) bid
59. Don’t accept his first offer
60. Never give anything away, trade it
61. Your best two letter word is “if”
Introduction
We all negotiate every day of our lives for something. With our children, wives or husbands. When buying a house or selling a car, buying a washing machine or selling a new idea to your family or friends.
You may be asked to negotiate at work to resolve a union dispute, or to sell your products, to buy the company stationary or to book a room for the annual conference.
Some of us will be called upon to negotiate the buying or selling of a business and a very few may need the skills to negotiate their way out of a hostage situation or to appease warring nations. Most will get involved in the annual negotiation at salary review time and some of us find ourselves both as an employee, asking for a larger increase and as an employer, keeping the increases down.
In this ebook we will be looking at a variety of negotiating skills, techniques and tricks that you will find useful when doing any of the above. All negotiations, both large and small, work with exactly the same principles. Learn and apply the principles and you will be a top negotiator in any situation
There are two basic types of negotiation style and while they both have some advantages, I would like to dwell briefly on their disadvantages. The negotiation styles are as follows:
Competitive Negotiation - Seller prices high - Buyer offers low - Battle - Agreement
Co-operative Negotiation - Seller lays cards on the table - Buyer lays cards on the table - Compare notes – Agreement.
Disadvantages of Competitive Negotiation
Will often lead to conflict - Will occasionally lead to brinkmanship - Results depend on the strength of the negotiator, not the merits of the issues - Not likely to achieve Win-Win - Will often result in Lose-Lose - You are never certain if you achieved the results you could have achieved.
Disadvantages of Co-operative Negotiation - Ignores the human need to win - Can be misunderstood as weakness - Leaves the negotiator open and he may lose the advantage.
In an ideal world, Co-operative Negotiation would be the best bet. People, or groups of people, working side by side to solve a problem, will find a solution faster than using confrontation.
Our world however, is far from ideal and only through Competitive & Co-operative Negotiation can you truly achieve Win-Win.
This book is not designed to be read once, then put aside. If you are involved in negotiation as part of your work, then keep this book near to you and refer to it as you go along.
You cannot pull it out during a negotiation of course, but it is worth having close, nonetheless. A customer once told me that he keeps a copy of this ebook on his iPhone when he negotiates with his customers. When he gets stuck, he will excuse himself and go to the toilet to check what he should try next. He says the ebook has saved him, on many occasions, from settling for less than he could get.