Classic Sales Negotiation Tactic: I’ve Got To Talk To My Boss…

Picture this scene: it was about 20 years ago (ouch!) and I was still dating my wife when she suddenly had to replace her car. She knew exactly what she wanted: a Honda Civic with a manual transmission. There was a local Honda dealer near where she lived so one evening we went there to … Read more

Negotiation Battle: Tom Hanks vs. Mel Gibson

In the world of Hollywood, they have the ability to make the unreal seem oh so real. However, right now they are having a great deal of difficulty negotiating to make a contract between the big movie studios and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) become a reality. Are we going to be looking at another … Read more

Weird Negotiating: The Buy Now – Negotiate Later Tactic

I’ve always thought that this tactic was just a little bit crazy, but I have come to think that it goes on a lot more than any of us may believe. To set the stage properly, you’ve got to be able to imagine a buyer who is desperate. For whatever reason, a project has got … Read more

How To Negotiate To Buy A New Car In 2009

Ok, so let’s be straight about this – buying a new car is one of the biggest negotiations that most of us do on an annual basis. Any time that we have a chance to find out how to do a better job at negotiating this transaction, it’s almost like putting more money into our … Read more

Negotiation Tactic: The Reverse Auction

In the world of negotiations, there are few tactics as old and as well thought of as the “reverse auction”. This is a powerful negotiating technique that allows a buyer to get the sellers to offer their best pricing for the most amount of work. Not bad if you are a buyer, eh? Check out … Read more

What If There Was No “What If” Negotiation Tactic?

During a negotiation, there often arise cases where we’d really like to get the seller to give us information that they really don’t want to give to us. If only there was some way to test the other side’s willingness to settle with us. Oh, and if there was a way to also “zero in” … Read more

How Do You Deal With The Rest Of The Iceberg During A Negotiation?

As the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, did a fairly good job of looking out for the parts of icebergs that were above water. What got him in the end is when the Titanic hit a part of an iceberg that he couldn’t see because it was below water. In negotiating, all too … Read more

It’s Negotiation Time At Boeing: Plane & Simple

Even as the rest of the world is going through a financial melt-down, out in Seattle there is still strike going on at Boeing that is costing the company roughly $100M in missed revenue per day. Ouch! Just in case you have not been following this story, the 27,000 members of the International Associaition of … Read more

Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup – Now You’re Negotiating With The Big Boys

The financial world sure seems to be intent on driving itself off of a cliff; however, that is no reason that negotiations should not stop. As long as companies are talking, there is learning for us to be doing. This time around the negotiations center on just who gets to buy what remains of the … Read more

How To Make “Total Cost” Work For You When Negotiating A Sale

I suspect that I’m just about every car salesperson’s nightmare. I’m the guy who decides what model car he wants by either personal experience (“I want another one just like that one”) or by reading every car review that I can get my hands on. I then go ahead and spend countless hours online and … Read more