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You Can Negotiate Anything (Paperback)
by Herb Cohen
| Category:
Negotiation, Communication, Persuasion, Personal effectiveness |
| Market price: ¥ 108.00
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¥ 98.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
An essential reading for people who feel a strong need for effective negotiation skills. |
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Author: Herb Cohen
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pub. in: December, 1982
ISBN: 0553281097
Pages: 256
Measurements: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00081
Other information: Reissue edition
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- Awards & Credential -
The #1 New York Times Bestseller |
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- MSL Picks -
You Can Negotiate Anything can best be described as an introduction to developing negotiation skills. Its target audience is the average American, whether a housewife struggling with stubborn children, or the first-time manager.
The author, Herb Cohen, is a lawyer and family man, a professional speaker on the topic of negotiation, and a consultant. His writing style is casual, with a conversational tone, and his applications of techniques are presented in a down-to-earth manner that the average reader can easily relate to.
The basic premise of his book is that negotiations are part of everyday life, and that recognition of this fact, along with development of negotiation skills, will lead to greater satisfaction and personal success. The text is filled with practical applications, from negotiations with family, to business relations, to government foreign policy.
The book is divided into four sections. The first section introduces the three basic components of negotiation as the perception of power, time investment and constraints, and the balance of information between the parties. The author discusses tactics that employ these three components to sway negotiations. The second section of the book gives an in-depth description of power, time, and information.
The Power Chapter, 40 pages long, brilliantly outlines fourteen specific types of power essential to understand when negotiating with others, particularly if in a management position. Cohen effectively addresses the psychological element of power. The information in this chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Different negotiation styles are discussed in the third section. Win-lose and win-win negotiations are described in detail, to include counter- measures to avoid being victimized if involved with a win-lose negotiator.
The examples provided in this section are both interesting and informative. The fourth section is a short collection of additional illustrative stories. If the author had excluded anecdotes, this would have been a thirty-page booklet, but the extensive examples effectively clarified the pertinent points of negotiation, serving as an amusing, yet effective teaching method. This book is an excellent introduction to negotiation for the causal reader, but is not appropriate as a quick reference guide because of the illustrative nature of the text, with information buried within stories. (From quoting E. Haydon, USA)
Target readers:
General readers, but especially recommended to people in business, non-profit and government and college students.
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Better with
Negotiate This, By Caring But Not T-H-A-T Much
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Herb Cohen has been called "the world's best negotiator." He's internationally renowned as a corporate and governmental consultant on negotiating strategy, commercial dealings and crisis management. As a U.S. presidential advisor, he has helped to formulate policy on hostage negotiations and terrorism. He is president of the Power Negotiations Institute in Northbrook, IL.
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From Publisher
Every day, you negotiate for something: prestige, money, security, love. According to Herb Cohen, the world’s best negotiator, all these things are negotiable. This straight-talking guide will show you how to get what you want by dealing successfully with your mate, your boss, MasterCard, your children, your best friends and even yourself. As Herb Cohen counsels, "Power is based upon perception - if you think you've got it then you've got it. Be patient, be personal, be informed - and you can bargain successfully for anything."
Based on his book that spent over nine months on the New York Times bestseller list, the author presents specific guidelines, personal anecdotes and practical advice drawn from his three decades of successful negotiating experience. Here is a wealth of information and the motivation that you need to succeed.
This New York Times bestseller helps readers change their limiting behavior and though patterns so they can get what they want in life.
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Do you recall the Sears refrigerator salesman who returns periodically with a greeting of “hi there… made up your mind?” Chances are that beneath his calm façade lies an anxiety-ridden human being whose boss told him that very morning, “If you don’t sell a refrigerator today, you’ll be out in the elements pumping gas on an island.”
Here’s another article of faith you can hang your hat on: deadlines - your own and other people’s - are more flexible than you realize. Who gives you your deadlines? Who imposes them on you? Essentially, you yourself, in an activity called self- discipline or managing your time. Your boss, the government, a customer, or a family member may have something to do with it, but primarily your deadline is of your own making.
Since this is the case, you never need blindly follow a deadline. I’m not saying you should ignore deadlines. I’m saying you should analyze them. Since they are invariably the products of a negotiation they might well be negotiable.
Always ask, “What will happen if I go beyond the deadline? What is the certainty of the detriment or penalty? What is the extent of the punishment? In short, how great a risk I’m taking?”
For instance, we all know that the deadline for filing your income0tax return in the United States is April 15. What happens if you file later? Will someone pound on your door with a rifle butt and drag you off for incarceration? Hardly.
If you analyze this deadline, a yardstick for your behavior might be weather you owe the government money or whether the government owes you. If you are a substantial debtor who files really late, the Internal Revenue Service will penalize you, charging you interest and a penalty on the sum owed. However, if you compare the rate of return that the government is getting for allowing you to use their money to the rate that banks charge for a comparable loan, you’ll find that the government’s terms are more favorable.
The real question should be, “To whom do you want to give your business, the local bank at a high rate or the United States government at a reasonable rate?” Myself, I say, “Go with Uncle Sam!”
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Here are two things to remember:
1. No one will ever negotiate with you in any significant way unless they’re convinced that you can and might help them - or can and might hurt them.
2.In an adversary relationship, if you think I might help or hurt you, I should never defuse your perception of my power unless I get something in return, such a concession on your part, or a repositioning on your part, that truly benefits me or our relationship.
And here’s what I mean by defusing the perception of my power (whether the perception is true or false). When President Jimmy Carter first came to office, he talked about human rights in foreign policy. There was nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, he immediately spelled out what we would or wouldn’t do. In the eyes of some adversaries this promptly transformed us into a paper tiger, no more threatening than your neighbor’s kitten. He made the unfortunate mistake of publicly eliminating options without getting something in return.
For instance, as the world’s moral leader, President Carter announced that the United States would never send troops to Africa or the Middle East. Fidel Castro, munching a cigar, said, in effect, “What do you know? The Americans aren’t going to send armed forces to Africa! How considerate of them! In that case, Cuba will send armed forces into Africa!” And Cuba did, putting troops into Angola and the Horn of Africa.
The President should have kept Castro off-balance. He should have kept open the perceived option (whether used or not) of meeting aggression with diplomatic pressure or even military force. He should have said, “We are the moral leader, but we don’t know exactly what we will or won’t do.” Come to think of it, aren’t we the guys who sent B-52s over Hanoi on the Christmas Eve? We know what our fighting men plan to do when the weather gets colder!”
If he’s said that, Castro would have his cigar sputter out, and if Cubans mercenaries had gone to Africa they would have glanced skyward each time a plane broke through the clouds.
Moral: Don’t transform yourself into a paper tiger. In a competitive situation don’t eliminate options and reduce the other side’s stress unless you receive squid pro quo. Let them wonder until you have received what you’re shooting for. In geopolitics the perception that you are willing to take risks and exercise power may prevent opportunism by a potential by an aggressor.
… While avoiding being “taken in” by the power of precedent, use this power to your advantage. To justify what you’re doing or asking for, always refer to the other similar situations as the one you’re currently in. where you or others did so-and-so, and the result you wanted occurred.
For instance. If you’re at a retail outlet, trying to negotiate the price of an item so it’s less of a drain on your outlet, and the salesman says, “I’m sorry you know we don’t negotiate!” what do you do? You say, “Wait a minute - of course you do! I bought a hammer here, in your hardware section, just two weeks ago. It was chipped, and the clerk gave me two dollars off!”
Use the binding “logic” of popular tradition, though the tradition actually may be illogical. If you’re buying an appliance or a car, say, “I want last year’s model, not this year’s.” Why do you say this? Because everyone knows that last year’s model is cheaper than this year’s, even though last year’s model may be in mint condition. Do you know the difference between a 1980 and a 1981 refrigerator model? Perhaps one has tail fins. In dollars-and-cents terms, the concept doesn’t hold water if the model or appliance hasn’t been used, but the folklore and precedent are heavily in your favor. Cash in on them.
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12. The Power of Persistence
Persistence to power is what carbon is to steel. By gnawing through a dike long enough even a rat can drown a nation.
Most people aren’t persistent enough when negotiating. They present something to the other side, and if the other side doesn’t “buy” it right away, they shrug and move on to something else. It that’s a quality you have, I suggest you change it. Learn to hang in there. You must be tenacious. That’s an admirable quality President Carter has. He’s tenacious. He’s steadfast. He’s remarkably persistent.
In my opinion, President Carter is an extremely moral, decent, ethical person. However, at the same time, he may be one of the most boring leaders in American history. When you spend more than 15 minutes with him it’s like taking a sedative. Someone once commented, “When Carter gives a Fireside Chat, the fire usually goes out.” In short, if he enters a room, it’s as though someone had just left.
But he effectively used his reverse charisma on Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel at his secluded presidential retreat in the Maryland Hills.
Camp David is not the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Western world. It’s emphatically not a place for swingers - even for the moderately alive. The most exciting activity there is sniffing pine cones.
Knowing this, and realizing he wanted to achieve “acceptable minimum results,” Carter cleverly saw to it that there were only 2 bicycles for 14 people and a total lack of other recreational facilities. Evenings, to relax, those present for the extended stay had a choice of watching one of 3 insipid motion pictures. By the 6th day, everyone had seen the films twice and they were bored out of their minds.
But every day at 8:00 AM Sadat and Begin heard the usual knock on their cabin door followed by the same monotone, “Hi, it’s Jimmy Carter, ready for another 10 boring hours of the same dull stuff.” By the 13th day of this, if you were Sadat and Begin, you would have signed anything to get out there. The Camp David peace agreement was a classic, attributable to the patience and persistence of Jimmy Carter.
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| View all 6 comments |
Bill, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
Herb Cohen helps you to shift from "begging and worrying" to get the business to becoming a "true negotiator" operating from a position of strength and power. He shows you where your power to negotiate comes from... others competing to buy from you, knowing your options, establishing legitimacy, willingness to take risks. Building a mindset by getting commitment, establishing expertise and credibility, knowing and understanding what your client needs (as well as what you need!) and getting the client invested.
Several years ago in Denver, I heard Larry King at a Peter Loew "Success" seminar, describe his High School days in Brooklyn with Herb Cohen. For an incident, that started innocently enough, they were going to be barred from graduating on stage and thrown out of school. Herb did some hardball negotiating and saved the day! They graduated and onstage with the rest of their class!
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David Serra, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
On the fist of the three CDs, Herb covers how Power and Time can affect a negotiation. And how to use these tools to affect other people's behavior during a negotiation.
Listed below is a summarization of the first 8 "Power" perspectives that Herb outlines in his audio book. I only provide brief descriptions.
1. The "power" of Competition - Creating competition for what you have (money, something you are selling, or even an idea) and what you have goes up in value. Don't devalue what you have by telling the other party that no one else is interested in it. Emphasize how others are interested in what you have.
2. The "power" of Options - Always have options before entering a negotiation. By researching and obtaining many or even a few options, you will be more confident during your negotiation. The other side will sense this and will probably become more flexible.
3. The "power" of Legitimacy - The power of written words. Most people have a perception that what is written in books or signs are to be taken as fact. Promote written words (show car dealers ads of a cheaper deal on the same car, etc...) with the understand that written words can be challenged. And you should also challenge written words when it serves you.
4. The "power" of Risk-taking - Take calculated risks. If you don't, the other side might and will have an advantage. (not much else to say there).
5. The "power" of Commitment - Getting others to take a piece of the action. When you have a partner or more in your endeavor, there are now more people share in the stress (thus yours goes down) and in the negotiation process.
6. The "power" of Expertise - Establish your credentials up front as an expert in a particular area (and if you are not an expert in the particular area, gather as much knowledge as you can before the negotiation) and your opinions may not even be challenged.
7. The "power" of Knowledge of Needs - Understanding what the other side's needs really are. What the other says they need to make the deal is not necessarily the minimum of what they really need.
8. The "power" of Investment - Getting the other side to invest lots of time and effort before discussing what really matters to you (i. e. price or interest rate, etc...). Save it until the end of the negotiation if possible. This has the other side extending more of a commitment of time to you and if the deal fall through, they have to start all over again.
There are a few things about this audio book that I did not like:
Most of the tactics Herb discusses are to be used when negotiating with an adversary (car salesman, Boss, etc...) Trying these tactics with someone you are closer with (wife, husband, friends, relatives, etc.) will cause rifts and could deteriorate your relationship with that person.
Herb often confuses the point of affecting people’s behavior and controlling them. The issue that I take with this is that if you go into the negotiation with the intention of controlling another, you could find yourself coming up short on results and gaining much frustration, especially if the other side perceives that you are being manipulative and dishonest.
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Sanjeev Shetty, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
As per the Herb Cohen world is a giant negotiating table and one can negotiate anything. Though for many this is very convincing an argument, I prefer to disregard this golden rule a little because in my opinion it is too idealistic to say one can negotiate anything. However hard one tries, in reality, one cannot negotiate anything. The human limitations in terms of right level of skills and abilities, attitude, knowledge, capacity to acquire and analyze the information in time, ability to conclude and decide, deviated perception of time, power and needs prevents us from successfully negotiating anything.
As a human being, internally, we all do have an inflated perception of self and like many other things it has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this book Herb Cohen has made use of these advantages very nicely and successfully. Although it is very idealistic to say you can negotiate anything, it helps much for a man on street to motivate himself and approach the negotiations positively with much confidence. In his book Herb has successfully negotiated with reality, to infuse that confidence and motivation to negotiate ANYTHING in the minds of the reader.
For me this book is the first structured and scientific introduction to the world of negotiations and I have benefited immensely. Though this is a very small book I took much time to complete the first reading as the contents are very informative. Just reading this book doesn't help much for a person who is serious about learning the science of negotiations. Understanding this science, and successful implementing and practicing in terms of building the right attitude, thoughts and views is the key and this is why I took more time in completing the first reading. It is not that after reading this book one will become master in the art of negotiations, rather this book will INITIATE one's journey in the world of negotiations.
I first got attracted to the subject of negotiation when I was thinking what makes people successful, how Lord Gautam Buddha and Lord Jesus were able to influence, change and convince such a huge populace. This desire to know the unknown has put me on the path of understanding the world of negotiations and psychology of human behavior. Without understanding these two things one cannot become successful in any of his endeavors.
This book definitely helps in understanding the value of information, psychology of needs, and perception of power and time. It also helps in how to deal for a win-win and how to deal with the so called Soviet Style adamant people. The very presence of Soviet Style psyche proves that one cannot negotiate anything, as Herb very rightfully suggests to walk-away from such people. This only underlines another golden rule that one cannot negotiate successfully without any mutual gain.
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
I used to teach a negotiation course for a foreign city government. If you are interested in learning negotiation but have not read this tiny book, please grab one for yourself. You are guaranteed to have fun to read it and to learn the best lessons on negotiation from a bargaining expert, Herb Cohen. This classic negotiation book vividly explains the most important negotiation principles though many amusing negotiation scenarios, ranging from buying refrigerators to bargaining with terrorists. After reading the book in 1994, I loved it so much that I decided to read more negotiation books and ended up writing and teaching negotiation myself. This is really a gem of the negotiation study. |
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