Negotiation Skills

The number they open with is not what they need. Seven decisions on finding the interest, trading instead of giving, and knowing your walk-away before you sit down.

Long. Most negotiations are lost before they start — walking in without your own walk-away, and without asking what the other side actually needs. Then they're lost again in the room: handing over concessions instead of trading them, and taking a tactic personally instead of naming it and returning to the interests.

Seven times the course puts you across the table and makes the call: name a number or invite theirs, give or trade, hold the line or walk. It pays out the cost of the deal you took when your alternative was better.

You will practice:

• Finding the interest behind what they ask for, and knowing your own walk-away, before the conversation starts
• Opening on purpose — naming a number or inviting theirs — then asking and listening for what they actually need
• Trading rather than giving: making every move conditional, and widening the deal so different priorities create value
• Holding steady under pressure — naming a tactic without heat, returning to the interests, and walking if the deal is worse than your alternative