Push back.. if his sense of urgency is to become yours then it needs to be worth it. Do not undersell yourself. Tell the client that you will need to shift othe

Push back.. if his sense of urgency is to become yours then it needs to be worth it. Do not undersell yourself. Tell the client that you will need to shift other projects around to accommodate him. Then tell him his urgent work gets billed at your rush rate. Which should be at least double your regular rate, plus you require a payment / retainer of 50% before starting the work. I suspect that it will not be quite so urgent after all. If it still is, that's great, you're prepared and can focus on the work. Your other clients will respect that you took on a rush job. Watch out for any deadlines you've already promised! Some should not be changed, you know your clients better than we do. As for negotiation tactics, I find that if I listen more and talk less I learn a lot from the client. Ask questions, take notes, show them you're serious. Don't let yourself be bowled over by their panic mode. Learn to say No. Learn to say I don't know. But in the end not all clients are worth keeping.