It’s Negotiable

Good morning,

Happy Friday! One of life’s little pleasures is negotiating. For those who don’t currently find it to be a pleasure, perhaps today’s sunny note will help. Negotiating a better deal doesn’t have to be painful. There are simple techniques that can help. But none of them matter until we embrace this simple fact.

Almost everything is negotiable.

It’s often said that nothing is certain but death and taxes. Okay so death might not be negotiable, but taxes certainly are and so are the prices of everything we buy and sell on the planet.

Some people instinctively negotiate while others shudder at the thought of “haggling” over anything. In general, Americans aren’t particularly prone to negotiate purchases. We walk into stores expecting to pay the prices on the labels without thinking twice. Although missed opportunities in the grocery store might not add up to much, in the business world heedlessly paying sticker price or even sale price without negotiating can be very costly.

The bottom line is – there’s always a better deal available. It’s just a matter of whether we have the desire and the leverage to get it. Sometimes we will and sometimes we won’t, but we always have the opportunity.

Orvel Ray Wilson, author of “Guerrilla Negotiating: How to Create a Fair Advantage in an Unfair World,” offers numerous tips for negotiating in business and defending ourselves from other sharp negotiators. First he points out when not to negotiate, such as when you’d lose the farm, when you don’t care, when the other party’s demands are unethical, etc. Then he reminds us to “never enter a negotiation you’re not willing to walk away from.”

Based on this foundation, here are a few negotiation tips from Orvel:
- Prepare thoroughly and set priorities in advance, including “must gets,” “intend to gets,” and “nice to gets.”
- Ask for more than you really want, more than you even expect. Higher expectations yield higher outcomes.
- Never concede anything during negotiation without asking for something in return.

Most importantly, at home and at work, when you want something to be different - just ask. So much of what we assume is set in stone can actually be changed in our favor if we simply ask. And don’t be afraid of hearing the big bad “no.” Every “no” just gets us closer to the next “yes.”

Go for it – and have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting ASunnyNote.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com