Talking with people about negotiation, I often get asked a question along the lines of: “if there was just one thing that I could do in order to improve my negotiation skills what would it be?” My response to that is: “There’s never just one thing but there are in fact three things - which are[...]

Following an exchange of documents and telephone calls, a client wrote to me unambiguously stating that their budget was fixed. Two days later we agreed an amount which was 15% higher. The customer got a more rounded solution and I achieved my aspiration goals for the project. A clear win-win. So, how does that happen[...]

Positional bargaining is the default status of the big ego self-appointed tough negotiator, so the next time you are faced with someone playing hardball in a negotiation, recognise that nearly everything that someone says during a negotiation can be classified into one of three categories: i) POWER statements, ii) RIGHTS statements and iii) INTERESTS statements.[...]

In Harriet Martin's highly entertaining book "Kings of Peace, Pawns of War," she describes in detail how peace-making negotiations are handled by some of the world's most accomplished mediators.  While peace-making negotiations are different to business negotiations, not least of all with regards to time-frame and number of constituents involved, there are some very interesting aspects which[...]

Why Make Concessions? - Very few people will accept your first offer - They create goodwill - They signal that you are reasonable - They keep deal momentum   The top 3 “Do’s” - Do plan concessions in advance - Do concede on the issues which are of least importance to you but which are[...]

Invariably, if a B2B negotiation turns into a fixed sum negotiation the single issue on the table is price. So, here are some general must do’s and tactics to employ when this occurs. Prior to starting any negotiation, you must define the monetary equivalent of your ideal set of terms. This is called your Aspiration[...]