This story appears in the
April 2006 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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1. Not aiming high enough: If you don't ask, you
don't get. In other words, ask for more than you expect, or
you'll get less than you deserve.
2. Doing their job: Once you make an offer, wait. The
other side has three choices: accept it, reject it, or make a
counteroffer--which means you can negotiate some more. If you
better your offer before the other side answers, you are giving
away the store. They'll label you a wimp, then wait for the
perfect moment to really start grinding you down.
3. Not knowing what you want: Do your homework. Don't
waste your opponent's time. Put together a checklist (for your
eyes only, of course) of what you must have, would like to have and
can do without.
4. Making concessions before you've seen all the
demands: If you want to be sucker punched, make concessions
piecemeal. Not only will your opponents hound you for more--they
will out-leverage you with an eleventh-hour demand you cannot
refuse. Get demands out in the open first, then get them in
writing. Once you have a bird's-eye view of the battlefield,
you can make concessions, but only if your opponent takes some
demands off the table, too.
5. Not flinching: If there is one negotiating tactic you
should master, it's the flinch. Open any book about
negotiation, and you'll see this on the first page: Never
accept the first offer.
A speaker and attorney in Los Angeles,
Marc Diener is author of Deal Power.