Secrets of Power Negotiating, 15th Anniversary Edition

Chapter 3

Flinch at Proposals

Power Negotiators know you should always flinch—react with shock and surprise at the other side’s proposals. Let’s say you’re in a resort area and you stop to watch a charcoal sketch artist. He doesn’t have the price posted, so you ask him how much he charges, and he tells you $15. If that doesn’t appear to shock you, his next words will be, “And $5 extra for color.” If you still don’t appear shocked, he will say, “And we have shipping cartons here. You’ll need one of these, too.”

Perhaps you know someone who would never flinch like that because it’s beneath his or her dignity, the kind of person who would walk into a store, and say to the clerk, “How much is the coat?”

The clerk would respond, “$2,000.”

And this ...