Someone once told me that his definition of a successful negotiation was: “Reaching an amicable compromise which benefits all parties.” I told him that he deserved to be dismissed from his position as a senior manager in a major organisation, holding responsibility for a very large budget. It is the only time I have been escorted out of a building by a security guard, yet I remain strangely proud of the encounter.
Most people are poor negotiators, but this is not surprising. How often are we called on to negotiate? Almost everything we buy has a fixed price, and we therefore have very little chance to practise. But I think we have to consider cause and effect. Perhaps most items have a fixed price because people feel uncomfortable negotiating? I have significant anecdotal evidence to support this, having trained hundreds of people in the art of commercial negotiation.
