Secrets of Power Negotiating,15th Anniversary Edition: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator Paperback – October 20, 2010

I'm only partly through this and it's already helped me.When I received the cd, my brother and I were in the middle of an important negotiation with a certain landlord. We thought the opposition had the upper hand and we were ready to concede too much.The cd helped us see the other side in a different light and we were able to negotiate with much more confidence. As a result, we were able to head off the good cop, bad cop tactic right away and the use it against them. Were able to get a more money than we originally thought possible, we used the flinch tactic to get them to offer more stuff and have them feel good about it, and then we used the nibble tactic to get a few more provisions put into the contract when we came in to sign that they would never have agreed to earlier on in the negotiation. I wish I had started reading this earlier and that I had finished it before this negotiation started.I own my own business, and I can now see how much I've given away over the years. Can't wait to start turning that around.I'm probably going to buy the hard copy too so that I can really study it and mark it up :)

For quite a few years I was on the road and in airplanes as a technical service consultant for a manufacturer. The information in Roger Dawson's course saved my bacon many times. Unfortunately, it seems that most people think that winning in a negotiation means to dominate. What Mr. Dawson's course makes clear is that winning in a negotiation predominantly means coming to terms that both parties can walk away from feeling at least somewhat satisfied. This is not a feel-good touchy-feely course, because indeed winning means just that, but a true winner finds a way to not leave the other party feeling devastated while at the same time not having your head handed to you. In the responsibilities of the employment that I had, I was frequently dealing with dissatisfied, dissolution and disgruntled people. As such, coming to negotiated terms of settlement in various situations made the gambits that Mr. Dawson offers crucial. At the same time, a well negotiated settlement yields results that open the way to leave a mindset with the individual being dealt with, as well as their relatives, friends, neighbors, club associates and fellow church members to where they would be inclined to do business with me and my company in the future. This course provides the tools to accomplish this.

Imagine sitting across from someone who says:"I only have $5,000, that's all I have.""You've got to do better than that.""You've got to do MUCH better than that.""I don't have much time. What have you got?""What if I doubled/tripled/etc my order?"I asked that question in a review I wrote about a book that didn't have answers for how to respond. I mentioned in that review that Dawson's "Power Negotiating" had the answers. So I thought it was about time to post this in a review for THE book. Knowing how to negotiate well is a life skill that could help us in so many ways. It's just not about buying cars or houses, or discussing salary, or selling or buying a product. It's life. It's your toddler asking for a cookie; it's your teenage daughter asking for new luggage and spending money (Dawson provides personal examples). Having good negotiation skills is an essential life skill, and I know of no better book on the topic than Dawson's. The book drags a bit in the chapters on mediation, arbitration, and conflict resolution. But the chapters on the negotiation gambits -- beginning, middle, and ending -- is everything you need to know. He also talks about unethical gambits -- great info so you are aware when others try it on you. I have this book on my shelf for quick reference.

I bought this book more than a decade ago. I was finding my first job. A career advisor said "read a book on negotiating salaries. It makes every minute of a professional interview worth $1000." Who doesn't want to make a grand a minute?At first, even walking seemed intimidating, let alone haggling. But over the first three years of my career I read this book 3 times. It's a masterclass in negotiation. The audio book is good too, but different. I attribute 15% of my income for the last decade to learning key lessons from this book. I've suggested it to many friends, but most don't have the time to read hundreds of pages for a job interview. Who's smarter, the person who saves 10 hours on a $10 book, or the one who spends that time and money to learn how to free up 300 hours of a 2080-hour work year, by increasing his pay rate?I have given up on insisting that friends and family learn to negotiate. But I had to write this review to thank Roger Dawson. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for life.