1 – Be unreasonable.
Your first offer will most likely be contended; to fix this start unreasonably. If you want $100 for selling a product, make the starting price $150. If you want to buy a product that’s listed for $100 then offer $50. The counterpart will feel as if he or she has won something when meeting at a price, and you will walk away with the price you wanted from the very beginning. If you want to borrow $10 from a friend, ask for $20. You will end up with $10, or more. This is called the contrast principle.
2 – Proposition before personality.
Odds are that people are more interested in your offer than in you. Your personality can cloud the importance of your offer. You must be confident that your offer is what the other person needs, and place emotions aside to negotiate. Unless you feel the person will only take your offer because they respect you, then utilize personality, but in most instances you won’t have that type of relationship with most people.
3 – Be clear
If you feel like you are spoon feeding your counterpart, then you are negotiating the right way. People hate to spend energy thinking, so give as much details as possible from the very beginning. Anticipate the questions you think they will ask, and answer them before they ask them. People will appreciate the ease of doing business with you, which translates to more yes’s.
4 – ability to walk away from the negotiation
You can’t win them all, but you don’t have to. Do not have a limiting mindset because there will always be more chances to win the offer you want. Placing all your cards on the table will be the death for you in negotiation. If your counterpart is not budging, do not give in; walk away. When you walk away, then you have the upper hand. Chances are, the immovable will budge out of fear of losing, but don’t count on it.
5 – Be responsive
The one thing everybody hates is a person who takes too long to respond, especially in a negotiation. It either shows them your lack of confidence in what you’re offering, or that you care less about them; both will lower their respect for you and your offer. You will not win if you are not responsive.