“Every additional dollar you ask for is 50 cents in your pocket!”. A friend told me this was one of her favorite quotes related to negotiation. It was the first time I’d heard it, and I had to read it twice before it really hit me. So simple, yet so meaningful. Let’s break this down. There are two sides to this sentence: an ask side and a get side.
Let’s break this down. There are two sides to this sentence; an ask side and a get side Whatever you ask, it psychologically anchors other people. There are techniques to reinforce the anchor, such as using precise numbers, but we’ll leave that for another post.
During my negotiation training, I would ask the participants to role play. 1 buyer and 1 seller. The best predictor of the negotiation’s outcome was the first offer. The more aggressive the first offer was, the better deal the buyer got. You can make the explanation as complex as you want, but this is how it goes.
My simple way to look at it is that people are like sheep, we love to follow. Therefore if a salesperson says a TV costs $2,000, chances are that you will ask to pay $1,900. What I am recommending is to ask for much more. You shouldn’t be embarrassed or scared to do it. Just know that the more you ask for the more you will get. And the worst case scenario is to hear “no”.
The Black Negotiator 