Negotiation Strategies with Plumbers and other Contractors (Part One)
I’m not much of a handyman. In fact, my father-in-law warns me all the time to stop overtightening everything. And he watches me with an eagle eye whenever I use any of his tools (and he has a veritable hardware store in his garage). It’s just not my skillset....
Expert Panel’s Lessons Learned
I recently led a negotiation ethics seminar with an expert panel that included: the Dallas Mavericks’ General Manager and President of Basketball Operations, a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and a large law firm partner. Since they collectively have over 150...
Negotiation Strategies for Divorcing Parties (Part Two)
I’m told there’s almost nothing more personal and emotionally challenging than a divorce. Even divorces without kids, where the spouses have just grown apart but still want a future relationship, can present significant challenges. So how can parties effectively...
Similarities in Poker and Negotiation Strategies
I’ve always enjoyed poker, in part due to its similarities to negotiation: strategy, bluffing, reading others’ intentions, significant stakes, crucial verbal and non-verbal signals, split-second decisions with immediate consequences and feedback, and the list goes on....
Real Estate Agents’ Compensation Negotiations (Part Two)
How much should a home buyer or seller pay their real estate agent? Historically, the answer was 6% of the home sale price, split equally by the seller’s and buyer’s agents. But that amount was basically set by the National Association of Realtors, real estate agents’...
Real Estate Agents’ Commission Negotiations (Part One)
Most real estate agents consider themselves pretty good negotiators. After all, home buyers and sellers have been hiring agents for years to negotiate the purchase price of their homes (often the biggest financial transaction of their lives). Recently, however,...
Evaluating Blue Chips vs Bargaining Chips (Part One)
“Pay extra attention to the minutiae and ensure you fully understand every term and condition,” this senior partner told me when I was a junior associate. “Some lawyers will try to bury critical provisions in the least obvious places. It’s your job to catch and...