The insurance adjuster practically laughed out loud. My 1981 Datsun 280ZX had seen better days. Born in Minnesota, she had rust around her wheel rims and even had a rust hole where the rear bumper once attached to her right rear quarter. And she had two deep,...
A law student of mine several years ago asked me for help in negotiating a salary with a law firm for whom he had worked the previous summer. He told me he loved the firm and wanted to accept its offer, but thought its starting salary was low. So he asked – should he...
“The price is the price in retail, right?” The answer might surprise you — sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no.” In fact, there might be significant room in which to negotiate. So how do you know, and how can you get your best possible deal? 1. Do your...
“We’ve already negotiated the major elements of the deal, but the market just changed significantly. And we haven’t closed yet. How can we to go back and renegotiate our deal without significantly damaging our reputation?” This question by a successful commercial real...
“How can you negotiate the best deals as a buyer in a sellers’ market?” a real estate investor asked me. “It’s not easy,” I replied. “But using certain negotiation strategies will increase your ability to get the best possible...
You have a telephone appointment with your counterpart in a big negotiation at 2 pm. It’s going to be a critical conversation as you received your counterpart’s extremely aggressive first offer last week, and you have not yet responded. If you come across as too...
I wrote a column in 2011 entitled “In Person Talks Often Best Option” for The Arizona Republic. Given the timeliness of this subject as many CFOs and others contemplate the money saved with employees Zooming from home and staying away from airports, I thought I would...
Jane was dressed smartly and professionally, with an obviously expensive dark blue business suit and a brown leather briefcase. She walked purposefully into the room, surveyed it, sat down, placed her briefcase on the table. She took out a pad of paper, some neatly...
A client recently asked for negotiation advice about selling his business. He’s in his 40s and has been growing his business for about 15 years. He started as its marketing guru, progressed to an ownership share and took over its helm when its founders decided to...
