Art of Negotiation

Chapter 01. Everything is negotiable

Everything in life is a sale

and everything you want is a commission. – Grant Cardone

“Everything is negotiable” needs to be used as a concept

and approach throughout your life

and work from this moment on.

One of the biggest obstacles to your success and happiness is passivity.

Passive people simply accept the status quo

because they often feel unable to change the situation.

Meanwhile, proactive people see opportunities

and always seek to change the situation in their favor in all cases.

This is also the strategy that you should apply yourself.

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Think Like a Negotiator

There are almost no default prices

or conditions for anything,

even if they are written, or widely announced.

You must remember that,

no matter how solid and rigid the value or condition may seem,

we are all negotiable.

Your job is simply to figure out the crux of the matter

and how to get a better deal than the original.

6,000 years ago,

when the trade

and exchange of goods in ancient Sumeria (i.e. Sumer) took place,

people understood that all prices were negotiable.

In markets and grocery stores in third world countries,

even flea markets

and home clearing garages commonly found in residential areas, every price

– whether buying or selling

– These are all just a starting point,

where a good negotiator begins the negotiation process

to get the most favorable price for him.

However, there are also places in the modern world where negotiation

is discouraged.

Many people, especially those selling products

or services in the commercial market,

think that negotiation should be avoided.

Instead, they will print a price list

or attach a price tag

to products or services,

then display these prices as a stabilization.

But those prices are also really “worthless”,

they are not fixed but just one person’s best guess,

a place of another person’s willingness to pay.

Any price that a person offers can completely be changed

by that person,

or by another person.

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Flexible pricing

The fact that the pricing of a product

or service doesn’t follow a rule at all.

Businesses set prices according to costs,

expected profits,

and competitive conditions.

As information changes,

any price may be changed

and adjusted in some way.

Whenever you see a deal traded at a lower promotional price,

you’ll immediately see a prime example of a company

that miscalculated during the initial price setting.

Regardless of the current price,

you can adjust it in your favor.

You can get what you want cheaper,

faster,

with better conditions.

Make this mindset a habit to constantly look for opportunities

to improve prices or conditions in some way.

Bless what you want. – Huna proverb

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Contracts are just the starting point

Once a contract or an agreement is made,

you have the sole right to reject

or modify any terms

or conditions that you are not satisfied with.

In this contract,

there are very few provisions

that serve your interests in any way.

Never accept compromises

because agreements

or sales contracts are not satisfactory.

A few years ago,

we signed a new office lease in a building for 5 years.

A few years later,

the owner sold the building to another real estate company.

These new property managers went to each tenant

and explained that for legal reasons

they would all have to re-contract

with the new owner.

They assured us we had nothing to worry about.

The terms will be more

or less the same as the contract we signed;

Only a few minor changes.

The new contract we received was about 10 pages longer

than the original contract.

There are 52 clauses that are added

or removed from the original contract

and they are detrimental to our work in the future.

We have thoroughly reviewed the new contract

and changed these 52 clauses.

We then return the revised contract to the building owner.

A few days later,

they came back with a completely different contract,

in which all the other terms had been modified to our request.

Through this, we learn the lesson that,

“Never accept a loss just

because of a few unreasonable terms

in any contract of sale.

All conditions are negotiable.”

Remember that agreement is only the starting point

of the whole process.

Successful salespeople know

how to make somethings. – Aysa Angel