Negotiating the Win-Win Smart dealmakers know it pays to meet opponents halfway.

Negotiation doesn't have to be stressful. I'm not sayingthat you'll eliminate the uncertainty, the decision-making orthe possibility of leaving some money on the table, but you canmake the process less stressful if you have the right attitude.

The better way, of course, is win-win negotiation, where bothparties recognize that the value side of the equation is notfinite. If you can focus on building the value of the deal, bothbuyer and seller generally win. Win-win negotiation is at the heartof the Creative Selling System because it focuses on needsatisfaction.

It's an attitude thing. Win-win negotiators may start fromcompletely polar positions, but they're going to meet somewherein the middle, not drag each other from one side to the other.

This type of mutual conflict resolution builds trust, whichopens the doors to better communication of needs. Creative sellerspractice win-win negotiations to get the information they must haveto meet prospects' needs.

The lack of conflict builds efficiency into the buying/sellingprocess. I remember once trying to negotiate a TV advertisingschedule with an advertising agency that practiced win-losenegotiation. If they had approached the situation with a win-winattitude, we could have struck a deal within minutes. But becausethey were intent on squeezing the dollar until Washington screamed,the negotiations went on for two weeks. They still didn't get abetter deal, but they wasted a huge amount of their time (andmine).

Excerpted from Creative Selling: Boost your B2B sales