Negotiation

Lessons

1. 01

   What Decides a Deal

   See why every deal lands between two walk-away points, and work out yours before you start.

   10 steps
2. 02

   BATNA: Your Best Alternative

   Find what you would really do if the deal fails, turn it into a walk-away point and strengthen it before you talk.

   12 steps·Builds on What Decides a Deal
3. 03

   Find the Zone of Possible Agreement

   Work out where a deal can land, estimate the other side’s limit, and see what to do when there’s no overlap.

   9 steps·Builds on BATNA: Your Best Alternative
4. 04

   Leverage: Who Needs the Deal More

   Compare what each side loses without a deal, spot the moments when that balance shifts, and ask well when you have little leverage.

   11 steps·Builds on BATNA: Your Best Alternative, Find the Zone of Possible Agreement
5. 05

   Interests Behind Positions

   Ask what a demand is for, and turn a fixed position into options both sides can live with.

   9 steps·Builds on What Decides a Deal
6. 06

   Questions That Change the Deal

   Ask the questions that surface what the other side won’t volunteer, and share your priorities without giving away your limit.

   10 steps·Builds on Interests Behind Positions
7. 07

   Anchoring and First Offers

   Decide when to name the first number, make it one you can defend, and answer an extreme offer without countering off it.

   10 steps·Builds on Find the Zone of Possible Agreement, Questions That Change the Deal
8. 08

   Expanding the Pie

   Find trades that cost you little and matter a lot to the other side, and offer packages that reveal what they value.

   10 steps·Builds on Interests Behind Positions, Find the Zone of Possible Agreement
9. 09

   Trading Concessions

   Make every concession conditional, read what the size of each step signals, and answer a last-minute nibble.

   10 steps·Builds on Expanding the Pie, Anchoring and First Offers
10. 10

    Making Yes Easy

    Count the work and risk the other side takes on by saying yes, and lower that step instead of arguing harder about price.

    11 steps·Builds on Interests Behind Positions
11. 11

    When to Push and When to Pause

    Use silence and timing well, answer a delay without guessing its cause, and avoid negotiating against yourself.

    8 steps·Builds on Anchoring and First Offers, Leverage: Who Needs the Deal More
12. 12

    Pressure Tactics and How to Answer Them

    Recognise the common pressure tactics, buy yourself time to compare, and answer each one with your alternative rather than your nerves.

    10 steps·Builds on BATNA: Your Best Alternative, Anchoring and First Offers, Trading Concessions
13. 13

    Walking Away and Closing the Deal

    Know when no deal is the best deal, confirm a yes cleanly, and judge your decisions by what you knew rather than how they turned out.

    11 steps·Builds on BATNA: Your Best Alternative, Trading Concessions
14. 14

    The Pay-Rise Playbook

    Prepare one pay conversation from start to finish: evidence, process, an opening figure, the offer and a confirmed outcome.

    14 steps·Builds on BATNA: Your Best Alternative, Leverage: Who Needs the Deal More, Anchoring and First Offers, Walking Away and Closing the Deal
15. 15

    Quotes, Extras and Disputed Bills

    Compare quotes on the same scope, treat every extra as a new decision, and question a bill line by line.

    14 steps·Builds on Questions That Change the Deal, Anchoring and First Offers
16. 16

    Hiring a Trader: Brief to Handover

    Run one decorating job from brief to final payment: choose the trader, agree the stages, handle an extra and decide when to pay.

    12 steps·Builds on Interests Behind Positions, Leverage: Who Needs the Deal More, Trading Concessions, Pressure Tactics and How to Answer Them, Quotes, Extras and Disputed Bills