Put the Worlds Best Negotiator on Your Side


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Put the World's Best Negotiator on Your Side

Roger Dawson is the author of You Can Get Anything You Want, but You Have to Do More Than Ask, a book that many cite as, "the best book ever written on negotiating."

Here are Roger Dawson's 23 tips, strategies and techniques that will work wonders to help you get your refund . . . (They're also great for using when you're buying or selling a house, car or boat and even at garage sales).

Negotiating can be fun and very profitable in business and in your everyday life.

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#1 Ask For More Than You Expect to Get
By Roger Dawson
One of the cardinal rules of Power Negotiating is that you should ask the other side for more than you expect to get. Henry Kissinger went so far as to say, "Effectiveness at the conference table depends upon overstating one's demands." Think of some reasons why you should do this: . . . more >>

# 2 To be a Better Bargainer, Bracket You Objections
By Roger Dawson
Whether you're bargaining in your favorite antique store, negotiating for an increase in pay, or trying to get the rock-bottom price for a new car, you'll do better if you use a technique that negotiators call Bracketing. This means that your initial proposal should be an equal distance on the . . . more >>

#3 The Value of a Service Goes Down Quickly
By Roger Dawson
The value of a service always appears to go down quickly as soon as those services have been performed. The value of any material object you buy may go up in value over the years, but the value of services always appears to decline rapidly after you have performed those services. Power Negotia . . . more >>

#4 Want to Get More at the Bargaining Table? Learn to Flinch at Proposals
By Roger Dawson
Power Negotiators know that you should always flinch-react with shock and surprise at the other side's proposals. Let's say that you are in a resort area and stop to watch one of those charcoal sketch artists. He doesn't have the price posted, and he has the shill sitting on the stool. You a . . . more >>

#5 What To Watch For When the Talking is Over and It's Time to Get the Deal in Writing
By Roger Dawson
Most people think of negotiating as the verbal give and take that takes people from their different wants and needs to a point of agreement. That, of course, is the heart of negotiating but just as important is the transition to the written contract that formalizes the verbal agreement. Here . . . more >>

#6 If You Need to Put Negotiating Pressure on the Other Side, Try Good Guy/Bad Guy
By Roger Dawson
Good Guy/Bad Guy is one of the best known negotiating gambits. Charles Dickens first wrote about it in his book Great Expectations. In the opening scene of the story, the young hero Pip is in the graveyard when out of the sinister mist comes a large, very frightening man. This man is a convic . . . more >>

#7 How to Negotiate When the Other Person Tells You That They Don't Have the Authority to Decide
By Roger Dawson
One of the most frustrating situations you can run into is trying to negotiate with the person who claims that he or she doesn't have the authority to make a final decision. Unless you realize that this is simply a negotiating tactic that's being used on you, you have the feeling that you'll never g . . . more >>

#8 Importance of Gathering Information
By Roger Dawson
Henry Kissinger was once asked if he already knew what the Soviets would propose at an upcoming summit meeting. He said, "Oh, absolutely-no question about it. It would be absolutely disastrous for us to go into a negotiation not knowing in advance what the other side was going to propose." Ca . . . more >>

#9 When You're Negotiating, Money Isn't As Important as You Think
By Roger Dawson
Let me tell you about my pet subject: When you're selling your product or service, money is way down the list of things that are important to the other side. First, we'll talk about something that you may find hard to believe but it's something of which I've become convinced-that people want to spe . . . more >>

#10 Basic Principles Make You a Smarter Negotiator
By Roger Dawson
The way that you conduct yourself in a negotiation can dramatically the outcome. I've been teaching negotiating to business leaders throughout North America since 1982 and I've distilled this down to five essential principles. These principles are always at work for you and will help you smoothly ge . . . more >>

#11 To Be a More Powerful Negotiator Never Say Yes to the First Offer
By Roger Dawson
Power Negotiators know that you should never say Yes to the first offer (or counter-offer) because it automatically triggers two thoughts in the other person's mind. Let's say that you're thinking of buying a second car. The people down the street have one for sale, and they're asking $10,000 . . . more >>

#12 If You Don't Feel You're Getting Enough Out of a Negotiation, Nibble for More at the End
By Roger Dawson
Power Negotiators know that by using the Nibbling Gambit, you can get a little bit more even after you have agreed on everything. You can also get the other person to do things that she had refused to do earlier. Car salespeople understand this, don't they? They know that when they get you on . . . more >>

#13 Setting the Climate for a Non-Confrontational Negotiation
By Roger Dawson
What you say in the first few moments of a negotiation often sets the climate of the negotiation. The other person quickly gets a feel for whether you are working for a win-win solution, or whether you're a tough negotiator who's out for everything they can get. That's one problem that I have . . . more >>

#14 When Negotiations Stall, Position the Other Side for Easy Acceptance
By Roger Dawson
When you're negotiating with people who have studied negotiating, and are proud of their ability to negotiate, you can get ridiculously close to agreement, and the entire negotiation will still fall apart on you. When it does, it's probably not the price or terms of the agreement that caused . . . more >>

#15 Learn to Play the Reluctant Buyer When You're Purchasing
By Roger Dawson
Let's say that you're in charge of buying new computer equipment for your company. How would you get a salesperson to give you the lowest possible price? I would let the other person come in and have her go through her entire presentation. I would ask all the questions I could possibly thin . . . more >>

#16 Learn to Play the Reluctant Seller When You're Negotiating
By Roger Dawson
Imagine for a moment that you own a sailboat, and you're desperate to sell it. It was fun when you first got it, but now you hardly ever use it, and the maintenance and slip fees are eating you alive. It's early Sunday morning, and you've given up a chance to play golf with your friends beca . . . more >>

#17 Why it's a Mistake to Offer to Split the Difference
By Roger Dawson
In this country, we have a tremendous sense of fair play. Our sense of fair play dictates to us that if both sides give equally, then that's fair. If Fred puts his home up for sale at $200,000, Susan makes an offer at $190,000, and both Fred and Susan are eager to compromise, both of them te . . . more >>

#18 To Win in Negotiations, Learn How to Taper Concessions
By Roger Dawson
In extended negotiations over price, be careful that you don't set up a pattern in the way that you make concessions. Let's say that you're selling a used car and you've gone into the negotiation with a price of $15,000, but you would go as low as $14,000. So, you have a negotiating range of . . . more >>

#19 To Get a Better Deal, Learn How to Use the Vise Gambit
By Roger Dawson
The Vise is a very effective negotiating Gambit and what it will do for you will amaze you. The Vise Gambit is the simple little expression: "You'll have to do better than that." Here's how Power Negotiators use it: Let's say that you own a small steel company that sells steel pro . . . more >>

#20 How Time Pressure Affects the Outcome of a Negotiation
By Roger Dawson
In Puerto Prince, Haiti, former President Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn were in intense negotiations with Haiti's military commander, General Cedras. The Vise Gambit is the simple little expression: "You'll have to do better than that." Here's how Power Negotiato . . . more >>

#21 Never Make a Concession When You're Negotiating Unless You Ask for Something in Return
By Roger Dawson
Power Negotiators know that anytime the other side asks you for a concession in the negotiations, you should automatically ask for something in return. Let's look at a couple of ways of using the Trade-Off Gambit: Let's say that you have sold your house, and the buyers ask you . . . more >>

#22 Unethical Negotiating Gambits and How to Protect Yourself Against Them
By Roger Dawson
Let me teach you the unethical gambits that people can use to get you to sweeten the deal. Unless you're so familiar with them that you spot them right away, you'll find that you will make unnecessary concessions just to get the other side to agree with your proposal. Many a salesperson has . . . more >>

#23 How to Stop People from Grinding on You in Negotiations
By Roger Dawson
Let me tell you how to conclude negotiations very effectively. You don't have to use it when the other person is negotiating in good faith with you. You use it only when you feel that the other side is simply grinding away to get the last penny off your price. Or when you know that the other . . . more >>