Everything's Negotiable When You Know How to Play the Game

Salespeople, customers, bosses, subordinates, even family members - no matter who you deal with, negotiating is an inescapable fact of life. Whatever the stakes may be, the better you know the guidelines, the bigger the rewards.
Everything's Negotiable provides step-by-step instruction on how to master the skills, strategies and rules that are necessary to play - and win. This lively guide supplies both a game plan and a method for figuring out what you want, whether in a business situation or at home. You'll learn how to identify negotiating weaknesses and overcome them, structure a negotiation using a four-step process, handle difficult people, prepare for and conduct the negotiation, break a "deadlocked" negotiation, control anxiety, and know when to use mediation, and when to walk away.
The authors help you take charge of every situation by applying negotiating rules to specific contexts such as buying and selling, job hunting, and mediating disputes. You'll find out how to negotiate a salary raise or job termination - to your advantage, of course.
Everything's Negotiable is particularly valuable for anyone who deals with more experienced negotiators, or conducts business internationally. The book features quotations and practical advice from top negotiators, as well as summaries of the best current research. You'll learn about dirty tricks and traps, study some real-life blunders, and get a quick lesson in negotiation etiquette around the world.
Whatever your situation, Everything's Negotiable supplies plenty of surprising facts. Did you know, for example, that there are times that you should not negotiate? And that "win-win" outcomes are not always the best? Packed with real-life examples, skill-testers, and memorable tips and techniques, this guide makes it easy for you to put your learning to work and avoid mistakes. It even helps you create your own plan to develop your negotiating abilities further.
You receive countless offers, proposals, and demands every day. Yet, as the authors point out: "Every time you deal with another person, you have a chance to make things better - for yourself and the other party - through negotiation." Whether you're hammering out a contract or haggling over the rates on a hotel suite, Everything's Negotiable will help you play your hand effectively, and get the outcome you desire.

Eric Wm. Skopec, PhD, is former Director of the Executive Program, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Southern California.