Things to Never Say While Negotiating • Hacker News Board

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#21

Post by nostrademons » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 12:39 AM UTC

chanri wrote: post #8

Is there any way to gain practice on negotiation? As an entrepreneur, are there any resources on the internet where you can "practice"? The only thing I can think of is playing poker or something at the casino...

Have kids or babysit? Kids are awesome negotiators, because they don't care about the other party at all, they just want to get the best deal for themselves possible. They also start from a position of weakness in most negotiations, which means they need to try some wonderfully creative strategies to get what they want.

Actually, I wonder why most adults lose that ability as they get older. My guess is that sometime in the teen years, people start caring about what others think of them, and that is poison to negotiations.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#22

Post by frou_dh » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 12:41 AM UTC

semanticist wrote: post #15

Perfectly optimal financial value doesn't always equal perfectly optimal social value. For my current job my employer's first offer was exactly the amount I'd been looking for. So I said 'yes' and didn't negotiate at all. Maybe I could've talked them up, but I got what I was looking for and we closed the meeting in under 15 minutes with everyone happy. If someone offers you what you want, why waste time negotiating f…

> If someone offers you what you want, why waste time negotiating for more?

I have and will continue to waste swathes of time on far less beneficial pursuits so I can find plenty time for that!

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#23

Post by atgm » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 12:46 AM UTC

If someone said "fuck you" to me, I would no longer want to negotiate with them, plain and simple.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#24

Post by marcinw » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 12:46 AM UTC

imcqueen wrote: post #3

If I'm the seller I would prefer to throw out a number. That way you can simply pad the starting point, coming down in price is much easier than going up.

That's great until the person you're selling to immediately jumps on that. At this point, you are left wondering, "Gee, was my offer that good? Was it too low? I wonder what he was expecting to pay. Damn, I could have made 20% more had he made the first offer." Same goes the other way around. The trick is to have both people negotiating to leave feeling as if they won. In your case, you will leave feeling as if you lost.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#25

Post by moe » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 12:57 AM UTC

enjo wrote: post #12

moe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn. - David Russell

Bah.. never burn a bridge, simply don't cross it and find another way across.

  Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.
  - Don Henley

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#26

Post by Mz » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 1:01 AM UTC

enjo wrote: post #12

moe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn. - David Russell

Bah.. never burn a bridge, simply don't cross it and find another way across.

But what happens when the Magog come pouring across it?

(Just wondering.)

Edit: I don't know if people don't get the reference or think I am merely being flippant. I'm not. I don't like burning bridges either. But sometimes I find it is the only way to put an end to a problem situation where the more I try to be polite and all that, the more neurotic and demanding and blood-sucking they become. If someone here knows how to handle that effectively without "burning the bridge", I would love to hear their take on it.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#27

Post by WalterBright » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 1:41 AM UTC

chanri wrote: post #8

Is there any way to gain practice on negotiation? As an entrepreneur, are there any resources on the internet where you can "practice"? The only thing I can think of is playing poker or something at the casino...

A lot of your day to day activities can involve negotiating. For example, taking your car in for service/repair? Negotiate the price. Buying tires? Negotiate the price. Booking a hotel room? Negotiate. Doctor visit? Negotiate the fee. Heck, even a department store will often negotiate if you're nice.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#28

Post by jimbokun » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 1:50 AM UTC

keefe wrote: post #9

>1. The word "between. I largely agree with this article and even this point in particular, but I think you will often end up in a situation where stating a range can move things along quickly. If you qualify it properly, it can be a useful way to turn the tables. For example, if you are discussing rate you could say well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay between $4…

"you could say well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay between $45 and $65 an hour"

Or you could just say "well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay about $75 an hour."

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#29

Post by dmoney » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 2:09 AM UTC

Mz wrote: post #26

enjo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bah.. never burn a bridge, simply don't cross it and find another way across.

But what happens when the Magog come pouring across it? (Just wondering.) Edit: I don't know if people don't get the reference or think I am merely being flippant. I'm not. I don't like burning bridges either. But sometimes I find it is the only way to put an end to a problem situation where the more I try to be polite and all that, the more neurotic and demanding and blood-sucking they become. If someone here knows…

I don't get the reference. The search engines don't turn up anything relevant either.

Re: Things to Never Say While Negotiating

#30

Post by larrik » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 2:13 AM UTC

marcinw wrote: post #24

imcqueen wrote: post #3

If I'm the seller I would prefer to throw out a number. That way you can simply pad the starting point, coming down in price is much easier than going up.

That's great until the person you're selling to immediately jumps on that. At this point, you are left wondering, "Gee, was my offer that good? Was it too low? I wonder what he was expecting to pay. Damn, I could have made 20% more had he made the first offer." Same goes the other way around. The trick is to have both people negotiating to leave feeling as if they won. In your case, you will leave feeling as if you l…

I'm not convinced that that's a good enough reason not to do it.

If you are that much more concerned about getting the best possible price (or whatever) vs. getting a set number you actually want, then you should go into the negotiation with enough information to already know what the best possible price should be.