17 ms·

I once did a two-day workshop on negotiation techniques, which covered not only methods but also helped me to become more comfortable dealing with the psycholog

I once did a two-day workshop on negotiation techniques, which covered not only methods but also helped me to become more comfortable dealing with the psychological stress that's induced in many negotiation situations. So far I'd say the course (which was free as I won it as a prize in a business plan competition) is directly responsible for at least 50-100.000 € of additional revenue that I made in the last years, simply because I negotiated more effectively. I'd highly recommend honing this skill as it will also help you as an employee, as even small gains in salary can add up to quite a lot of money over the years. For freelancers and entrepreneurs negotiation is also important of course and will greatly help you.

snarkypixel 6y ago
Adding to that, even if you don't like negotiating, it's helpful to understand the tactics used by the other person so you can counter them (or at least be aware of it). For instance, my favorite tactic when someone is pushing hard to sell me something or negotiate is the "Appeal to the authority" (i.e. "Let me first talk about it to my wife (or co-founder) about it." Another popular negotiation tactic is to get asked between option A or option B, where in fact you could simply respond with "option C is more what I'm looking for".
- woahAcademia 6y ago
  Appeal to the Authority Is different than Appeal to Authority Wow that's crazy.
- gadders 6y ago
  >>For instance, my favorite tactic when someone is pushing hard to sell me something or negotiate is the "Appeal to the authority" (i.e. "Let me first talk about it to my wife (or co-founder) about it." In the UK, some sleazy sellers of things like double glazing won't even start discussing the sale unless both husband and wife are present to prevent this tactic.
  - vorpalhex 6y ago
    Suddenly time to become poly. "Uh, let me ask my second husband about this too..."
    - systemvoltage 6y ago
      I laughed so hard, it's difficult to breathe.
    - joelwallis 6y ago
      Omg it would be legendary
  - pbhjpbhj 6y ago
    Sales people use essentially the same tactic: "i have to call the boss/check with my manager" and then "i tried but they said that's too little, but we can do £X; so I'll get the paper work" ... Seems you either overpay or have to put up with the silly games and don't know if you're overpaying. If the system were seeing optional efficiency it would give us all the info about BoM cost and hours worked and C-suite wages, dividends and profit rates, that would enable us to make informed decisions.
  - intricatedetail 6y ago
    This is when you tell them to gfy. Another problem in the UK is that anyone can claim they can do glazing, they can show you fake portfolios and use tactics like above to get you to sign a contract. Then consumer rights will let them to try to "fix" the job until you give up and if you report fraud to police they'll say it's not a crime to do that. Being a poor glazer is not a crime.
flamtap 6y ago
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. This relatively short book has made more of a difference to my personal livelihood than maybe any other pice of literature or advice. You really don’t realize how much negotiating you do in day to day life. Its good to be comfortable with it.
- tedmcory77 6y ago
  Seconding this book. I took grad school level negotiation classes and this book added as much or more value when I've negotiated for pricing, salary, etc.
- switch007 6y ago
  I was part-way through the book and I needed to sell some things on Gumtree. Normally I'd expect some low balling at first and then accept below the asking price. However using what I'd read in the book, I got the asking price for all 4 items I sold!
- totally 6y ago
  The audiobook is good as well, you can hear the tone of voice, which is useful.
  - dtech 6y ago
    I looked it up and saw it was read by Michael Kramer. It's worth it do just hear his voice.
    - elros 6y ago
      For a moment I thought you said Cosmo Kramer... That'd be something hahaha
  - Breza 6y ago
    Totally agree about listening to the audiobook!
- cashsterling 6y ago
roland35 6y ago
When I was purchasing a car this helped a lot too! Salesmen are much more experienced than me since they negotiate every day, but even accounting for that it is easy to see what they are doing with other customers and easy to see through the attempts they make on myself. The most common one of course is the "time limited" deal... As if I just happened to show up on the only day there is a sale...
- athenot 6y ago
  The fun part is you can turn that technique against them and it works like a charm. I've repeated this a few times now: dedicate a day to car buying and call 10 of them up telling them I'm buying a car TODAY, with these precise specs. No upsells entertained. And I let them in on the fact that I'm calling all the others and expect to make a decision by a set time. Always remain super polite but stay firm. In a way I suspect many appreciate this because I'm not wasting their time, it's a quick decision on how eager they are to fill their quota. But it's fun to see how much the "final price" evolves over the course of a few hours…
  - cannaceo 6y ago
    A lot of car salesmen ignore buyers like this. They see it as a waste of time to get pitted against each other. I’ve gotten the best results by starting with the dealerships with the lowest prices on TrueCar and then baiting them to invest time in me. Then they’re more committed and eager to close. Show your teeth later in the negotiation.
    - roel_v 6y ago
      Yeah this. I've tried this in various ways (not with cars, with other things) but usually they just hang up on me. I've never gotten deals that are better than what I could have gotten in other ways.
    - nikanj 6y ago
      They're free to turn down the business, and only time will tell if it was the right call. Personally I believe revenue is revenue, and salesmen generally need a lesson in humility, but then again I've never successfully ran a car dealership.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Jemaclus 6y ago
I came here to say negotiation. I recently did a two-day workshop on negotiation as well, and it was invigorating and really got me jazzed up about my job. I'm a manager, so I spend a lot of time negotiating with other teams and with external vendors, and negotiating with my employees vs my peers vs my superiors is also a skill I needed to hone. The workshop itself really let me see what was happening under the hood. It was a really great thing and I highly recommend it to everyone.

snarkypixel 6y ago

Adding to that, even if you don't like negotiating, it's helpful to understand the tactics used by the other person so you can counter them (or at least be aware of it). For instance, my favorite tactic when someone is pushing hard to sell me something or negotiate is the "Appeal to the authority" (i.e. "Let me first talk about it to my wife (or co-founder) about it." Another popular negotiation tactic is to get asked between option A or option B, where in fact you could simply respond with "option C is more what I'm looking for".

woahAcademia 6y ago
Appeal to the Authority Is different than Appeal to Authority Wow that's crazy.
gadders 6y ago
>>For instance, my favorite tactic when someone is pushing hard to sell me something or negotiate is the "Appeal to the authority" (i.e. "Let me first talk about it to my wife (or co-founder) about it." In the UK, some sleazy sellers of things like double glazing won't even start discussing the sale unless both husband and wife are present to prevent this tactic.
- vorpalhex 6y ago
  Suddenly time to become poly. "Uh, let me ask my second husband about this too..."
  - systemvoltage 6y ago
    I laughed so hard, it's difficult to breathe.
  - joelwallis 6y ago
    Omg it would be legendary
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  Sales people use essentially the same tactic: "i have to call the boss/check with my manager" and then "i tried but they said that's too little, but we can do £X; so I'll get the paper work" ... Seems you either overpay or have to put up with the silly games and don't know if you're overpaying. If the system were seeing optional efficiency it would give us all the info about BoM cost and hours worked and C-suite wages, dividends and profit rates, that would enable us to make informed decisions.
- intricatedetail 6y ago
  This is when you tell them to gfy. Another problem in the UK is that anyone can claim they can do glazing, they can show you fake portfolios and use tactics like above to get you to sign a contract. Then consumer rights will let them to try to "fix" the job until you give up and if you report fraud to police they'll say it's not a crime to do that. Being a poor glazer is not a crime.

flamtap 6y ago

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. This relatively short book has made more of a difference to my personal livelihood than maybe any other pice of literature or advice. You really don’t realize how much negotiating you do in day to day life. Its good to be comfortable with it.

tedmcory77 6y ago
Seconding this book. I took grad school level negotiation classes and this book added as much or more value when I've negotiated for pricing, salary, etc.
switch007 6y ago
I was part-way through the book and I needed to sell some things on Gumtree. Normally I'd expect some low balling at first and then accept below the asking price. However using what I'd read in the book, I got the asking price for all 4 items I sold!
totally 6y ago
The audiobook is good as well, you can hear the tone of voice, which is useful.
- dtech 6y ago
  I looked it up and saw it was read by Michael Kramer. It's worth it do just hear his voice.
  - elros 6y ago
    For a moment I thought you said Cosmo Kramer... That'd be something hahaha
- Breza 6y ago
  Totally agree about listening to the audiobook!
cashsterling 6y ago

roland35 6y ago

When I was purchasing a car this helped a lot too! Salesmen are much more experienced than me since they negotiate every day, but even accounting for that it is easy to see what they are doing with other customers and easy to see through the attempts they make on myself. The most common one of course is the "time limited" deal... As if I just happened to show up on the only day there is a sale...

athenot 6y ago
The fun part is you can turn that technique against them and it works like a charm. I've repeated this a few times now: dedicate a day to car buying and call 10 of them up telling them I'm buying a car TODAY, with these precise specs. No upsells entertained. And I let them in on the fact that I'm calling all the others and expect to make a decision by a set time. Always remain super polite but stay firm. In a way I suspect many appreciate this because I'm not wasting their time, it's a quick decision on how eager they are to fill their quota. But it's fun to see how much the "final price" evolves over the course of a few hours…
- cannaceo 6y ago
  A lot of car salesmen ignore buyers like this. They see it as a waste of time to get pitted against each other. I’ve gotten the best results by starting with the dealerships with the lowest prices on TrueCar and then baiting them to invest time in me. Then they’re more committed and eager to close. Show your teeth later in the negotiation.
  - roel_v 6y ago
    Yeah this. I've tried this in various ways (not with cars, with other things) but usually they just hang up on me. I've never gotten deals that are better than what I could have gotten in other ways.
  - nikanj 6y ago
    They're free to turn down the business, and only time will tell if it was the right call. Personally I believe revenue is revenue, and salesmen generally need a lesson in humility, but then again I've never successfully ran a car dealership.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Jemaclus 6y ago

I came here to say negotiation. I recently did a two-day workshop on negotiation as well, and it was invigorating and really got me jazzed up about my job. I'm a manager, so I spend a lot of time negotiating with other teams and with external vendors, and negotiating with my employees vs my peers vs my superiors is also a skill I needed to hone. The workshop itself really let me see what was happening under the hood. It was a really great thing and I highly recommend it to everyone.