Be Generous In Negotiations
Want to know a negotiation strategy that’s reliable now and always?
Give a lot to the other side, and ask little for yourself.
“Wait! That’s unfair! Why such an imbalance?” you may cry.
Calm down. I haven’t yet told you how much it will cost you.
The point is, negotiations rarely resemble a tug-of-war.
Yes, participants pull hard, but… each has their own “rope”. Sometimes one pulls a reinforced cable, while the other pulls a silk Hermes scarf.
In a deal, there’s always an X that’s most valuable to the other side. And you have plenty of that X. The ideal situation is when X costs you nothing. Like oxygen to a plant or pollen to a bee.
So you’re generous: “I’ll give you a lot of X in exchange for a little Y.” Your partner immediately agrees, thinking, “What luck!”
The art of negotiation isn’t about manipulation; it’s about understanding all interests: “I value Y. He values X.”
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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