Negotiating is difficult to master.  There are so many factors on so many levels, from negotiating in a trust relationship to preparing to negotiate with a new partner to a one-off negotiation.

Years ago I was in a car dealership to purchase a used car, and the discussions were not progressing well.  Salesperson brought over his manager. I finally stood up and told them: “According to Kelly Blue Book I should not be paying more than $3800 on this car”.  It was listed higher, and they didn’t seem convinced. As I stepped towards the exit I said: “And I was not going to pay cash, but to go with your financing”.  Car interest rates was at 8% back then, they were making good money out of it. So that lead to a deal with their financing but 3 months later I paid the balance in full to avoid additional interest charges.

An animal trainer once taught me that one key difference between lizards and snakes (besides the obvious: legs vs no legs) is in the eyelids.  Lizards have two movable eyelids and wink while the snakes have no eyelids. The animal trainer concluded: “You could try a staring contest with a lizard but don’t try it with a snake, you are going to lose”.  The best negotiator would have the toughest time if the other party didn’t blink. We always need to study and understand what type of negotiator is on the other side of our staring contest, and what motivates them to reach an agreement.

Do you have an interesting negotiation story to share?