The Law of Four IN REVIEWING thousands of negotiations, both simple and complicated, we find that there are usually only four main issues to be decided in any negotiation. There will be many smaller issues, but there are usually only four main ones. Occasionally, there may be one, two, three, or even five main issues,...

Clarify Your Positions and Theirs YOUR POSITIONS are the starting points. They include where you are coming from, where you are going, and how much or how little you can or will accept. These are your criteria or “boundary conditions,” as described in the Harvard Negotiation Project chapter. They are the constraints, the limits, the...

Preparation Is the Key PREPARATION IS THE true mark of the professional. Eighty percent of all negotiating success, if not more, is based on thorough preparation on your part before the first conversation takes place. Begin by considering the subject matter: What are you going to talk about? What is the purpose of this negotiation?...

The Harvard Negotiation Project HARVARD FACULTY and staff have studied thousands of large and small negotiations, both in business and in national and international politics. They identified four key elements to successful negotiating. (The entire Harvard Negotiation Project is explained in the book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher, William...

Know What You Want IT IS AMAZING how many people enter into a negotiation without knowing precisely what they want to achieve, and so they make up their goals and desires as they go along. They are easily influenced, persuaded, and manipulated to buy or sell at higher or lower prices. The solution for this...

The Element of Time in Decisions TIME AND TIMING are key factors in effective negotiating. Very often, you can get an excellent deal in a negotiation if you plan the timing carefully in advance. The Secret Is Out For example, when purchasing a new car, there is a strategy you can use. Salespeople and sales...

The Impact of Emotions on Negotiation EMOTION IS A KEY factor in negotiations. Emotions, especially the emotions of desire, greed, fear, or anger, can help or hurt you in a negotiation. The more you can keep your emotions out of the negotiating process, the more capable you will be of getting the best deal for...

Power and Perception POWER IS ALL about perception. It is not the power you have but the power the other person thinks you have that counts. A good friend of mine, once worth many millions of dollars, lost all his money in the Great Recession. He was forced to cut back in every area, including...

The Uses of Power in Negotiating YOU ALMOST ALWAYS have more power in a negotiation than you think you have. Even when you feel that the other person has all the power, it may be that you have something that he wants, or you can find something that he wants that will swing the balance...

The Six Styles of Negotiating THERE ARE SEVERAL different ways to negotiate, but you must be clear about the negotiation style you are using and the output or result that you are striving for. Win-Lose Negotiating The first style, called “win-lose negotiating,” is when party A gets what he wants and party B loses. This...