APPENDIX

PREPARE A NEGOTIATION ONE

SHEET

Negotiation is a psychological investigation. You can gain

a measure of confidence going into such an investigation
with a simple preparatory exercise we advise all our clients
to do. Basically, it’s a list of the primary tools you anticipate
using, such as labels and calibrated questions, customized to
the particular negotiation.
When the pressure is on, you don’t rise to the occasion
—you fall to your highest level of preparation.
One note of caution before going into greater depth on
this exercise: some negotiation experts fetishize preparation
to such a degree that they advise people to create the
equivalent of preordained scripts for exactly how the
negotiation will unfold and the exact form and substance the
agreement will take on. By now, after reading this far, you’ll
understand why that’s a fool’s errand. Not only will such an
approach make you less agile and creative at the table, it
will make you more susceptible to those who are.
Based on my company’s experiences, I believe that
good initial preparation for each negotiation yields at least a
7:1 rate of return on time saved renegotiating deals or