Inevitably, going through life, you will get into different situations where you may have the option to negotiate for something. This can included different situations like negotiating the price for a car, your salary in a job offer, business contracts, or even favors.
A lot of people don't have very much experience in negotiating, myself included. I can only think of a few instances where I had a very successful negotiation.
Back in college, I remember students could take classes on negotiation. Those classes were part of the managerial sciences degree. I guess you could take a class and spend a few hundred dollars on it but you could probably get a better value just by buying a few books and reading up on different negotiation skills.
Using some common sense, it is important to do a few things before any negotiation. Make sure you know what you and the other party want. Do as much research as you can about the other party.
Unfortunately, the most important part of getting the most out of you negotiation may be far out of your control. To get the most out off your negotiation, you have to be in a position where you don't need what the other guy has.
If you are in a position where you don't need the job/car/contract/etc, you are in a no lose situation. If you make a ridiculous offer and the other party rejects it outright, you win because you didn't need the thing. It would be like a millionaire going to a BMW dealership and offering to pay only $40,000 for a BMW that costs $60,000 and not getting it. He doesn't get the car but he wins because the car is not important and he is a millionaire.
If you are in a position where you don't need the job/car/contract/etc and you make a ridiculous offer and the other party accepts it, then you win. You got a lot more than you would have otherwise.
Say the millionaire in the last example made the same offer and received the car for $40,000, he just saved $20,000 where otherwise he would have paid the full price.
I've only really experienced this once.
Back in college, I had a friend that I would workout with regularly. It was great because our tuition automatically paid for our access to using the recreational center. When Summer semester was over, my buddy and I didn't have a good enough reason to commute downtown. It wasn't worth it to commute just do workout.
He had a good idea. For the month we had off before starting classes in the Fall, we would just go some place locally. When we got there, my friend was talking to the fitness instructor and the instructor was detailing to us all the different plans available and the features and costs. He was really intent on selling us a plan that lasted either 6 months or half a year. My friend started getting nervous.
So, I did some fast talking. I had to explain that we just needed something for one month. I had to explain the fact that my university had a great rec center that I will be going back to in the fall and I did not want to spend money on a plan for at least 6 months when I'll only use it for one month.
Lastly, I asked him if there was anything available where we could pay for a membership that lasted only one month.
Doing these things (explaining the situation, what you need, and what you are willing to pay for), this cut through all of the fluff and extra offers. The instructor was able to give us a membership for just one month for either $20 or $30. Completely worth it.
The absolutely worst thing I could have done was just go along with the 6 month plan and shell out $120 to $150.
I've the instructor rejected my request, it would have been no big deal. I would have the campus rec center one month later.
Getting into the position where you don't need what the other guy has is the tricky part but it is the most important thing to do to have the easiest time negotiating.
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