Improve Your Negotiations With The 5 Golden Rules.   LEARN THEM

Flipping a Coin

I don’t usually read Hollywood gossip stories but this headline from USA Today, “Kate Walsh, ex to divide assets by flipping a coin” caught my attention. Why? Because it illustrates what you can do when you just can’t find an objective standard...

Making Your Counterpart’s Plan B a Reality

Wal-Mart recently provided an example of how you can obtain a better deal by making your counterpart’s less attractive alternative, or Plan B, a reality. According to a recent CNNMoney.com article, Wal-Mart recently removed Arm & Hammer liquid laundry...

Tips for Using Independent Standards

In its Small Business Questions & Answers section, CNNMoney.com suggests one way to fairly set employee salaries is to rely on third-party salary surveys. Why? Because relying on independent standards, like a third-party salary survey, (1) gives you credibility,...

Hertz and Dollar Thrifty do the Standards Dance

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. recently announced its plans to buy Dollar Thrifty for $1.2 billion, about $41 per share.  Almost immediately, the standards dance began in the negotiation between Hertz and Dollar’s shareholders, which must approve the deal.  Yesterday, a...

Ask Questions. Ask Questions. Ask Questions!

In a recent New York Times article compiling consumer dispute resolution tips submitted by readers, a frequent suggestion was to simply ask, “What would you do if you were in my situation?”  The contributors reported this typically led to the sharing of helpful...

Ten Tips for Negotiating Your Next New Car Purchase

With auto sales on the rebound, you may be in the market for a new automobile.  Here are 10 things to do when negotiating your next new car purchase: 1.  Your first contact with the dealer should be to simply gather information – don’t get sucked into a...

Mediators Restart Boeing Negotiations

Federally-mandated negotiations began recently to resolve an on-going labor dispute between Boeing and striking aircraft workers in Long Beach, California.  Federal mediators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service convened the negotiations and previously...

Uncover Your Fundamental Interests

At one of my recent negotiation seminars, a participant shared the following story.  A product manufacturer was involved in a dispute with a trade magazine regarding several negative product reviews.  The manufacturer was unhappy because it believed the reviews were...

Size Alone Doesn’t Guarantee a Leverage Advantage

As detailed in The New York Times, Honest Tea is a specialty juice and tea company with 2009 revenues of $47 million. Coca-Cola owns 40% of the company with an option to buy the remainder next year. One of Honest Tea’s products marketed for consumption by children...