Effective negotiation skills just got easier

There was a time, not that long ago, when negotiation was seen, in the main, as the province of industrial relations folk and car-sales advisers. But, no longer! Repeated financial crises have squeezed profit margins and, in some markets, discouraged buyers from making marginal purchases or continuing habitual expenditure. Managers have found themselves in the frontline of the expectation to achieve better value for money, and the starting point for this is to shop around and explore the offers made by new suppliers, and/or to negotiate better deals with existing suppliers.

Even if your job doesn’t involve negotiation, then you might still be an active negotiator when replacing your car, moving house or even selling last season’s wardrobe! The truth is that being a good negotiator has become a life skill, enabling those who are good at it not just to save money, but also to upgrade their computer, television or lawnmower with little or no increase in outgoings - and enhancing their reputation in the process.

Becoming an effective negotiator is certainly within the scope of the majority of people. At its simplest, it involves thinking out what you want, planning how you’d like to get it and developing your powers of persuasion to convince other people that you are simply being reasonable.

This book will help you to plan to become a better negotiator through being better prepared for meetings, planning clear and realistic objectives for a negotiation, maintaining concentration and making logical proposals that create agreement in the other party.

• Sunday: Creating the right environment

• Monday: Researching your objectives

• Tuesday: People and places

• Wednesday: Breaking the ice

• Thursday: The agenda

• Friday: Concluding

• Saturday: Learning from your experiences