Negotiation: Get a Better Deal
Every lesson opens on a short narrated video, then teaches one move you can use the next time you ask for a raise, buy a car, rent a flat or settle a disagreement.
For anyone who feels awkward asking for more, gives in too early, or just wants to prepare properly before a big conversation. No business background needed. Each of the twelve lessons starts with a short narrated video that shows the idea in action, then walks you through real examples: a job offer, a used car, a lease, a supplier. You learn to find what both sides actually need, know your walk-away point, open with a number that works for you, trade instead of giving in, stay calm under pressure, and close with everything in writing.
By the end you can
- Separate what people demand from what they need, and know your BATNA and walk-away point before you start
- Open with a well-judged first offer, resist the other side's anchor, and make fewer, smaller, traded concessions
- Use questions, listening and silence to find trades that make the deal bigger for both sides
- Negotiate a salary, a car or a lease, handle hardball tactics calmly, and close with the terms in writing
Before you sit down
- Interests, not positions
Look behind what someone demands to the need that drives it, and you'll find deals a tug-of-war over the demand would never reach.
- Your BATNA and walk-away point
Know what you'll do if you don't agree, and the worst deal you'll still accept, so you never say yes to something worse than no deal.
- How the first number pulls
The first number put on the table drags everyone's estimates towards it, even when it's arbitrary; learn to use it and to resist it.
Opening and trading
- Making the first offer
When you know the market, going first lets you set the anchor; learn how ambitious to be, why a precise number helps, and when to let them go first.
- Giving ground wisely
Plan your concessions, make them shrink as you go, and never give one away without getting something back.
- The power of silence
Stop talking after you make an offer, pause before you answer one, and let a quiet moment do work that words would undo.
Grow the deal, hold your ground
- Questions and listening
Open questions, summarising and labelling feelings uncover what the other side values, and make them more willing to hear you.
- Expanding the pie
Most deals involve more than one issue; trade the things you care about less for the things you care about more, and both sides can end up better off.
- Handling hardball tactics
Spot the common pressure tactics, name them calmly, and bring the talk back to interests, facts and your walk-away point.
Real deals
- Negotiating your salary
Research the market, wait for the offer, negotiate the whole package, and see why a few thousand more at the start keeps paying for years.
- Buying a car or renting a flat
Use the whole toolkit on two everyday deals: negotiate a car on the total price, not the monthly payment, and win a lease by solving the landlord's problems.
- Closing and writing it down
Summarise every term, check nothing's left open, put it in writing the same day, and use a one-page prep sheet that brings the whole course together.
Keep it, don't just read it
Pathwise brings each idea back just before you'd forget it, with a quick question. Free on Android and on the web, in English and Persian.