Negotiation Isn't a Sometime Thing, It's an All-The-Time Thing!

When you're buying a car or a house, you absolutely, unequivocally know you're entering a big-stakes negotiation, the result of which will mean thousands of dollars saved, earned, or lost.

So, it's fairly easy to get up for the game, emotionally, but that doesn't do much good if your haven't built your skills to an equivalent point.

You need to be READY to negotiate the big items of life, but because most of us do so only once every four or five years, we aren't up to speed.

There is only one way to get more experience and that is by (1) Perceiving the frequency with which you actually negotiate, daily, weekly, and monthly; and (2) By deliberately sharpening your bargaining tools within those encounters.

I hired a pool cleaning service because I finally admitted I wasn't going to get around to adding chemicals, investing in vacuum hoses, and testing the water on a regular basis.

During the pool guy's second visit, I noticed he was on site maybe 10 minutes, and he was about to split.

Not good, because there was algae along the tiles and in various nooks and crannies.

If I let him leave without pointing out these areas, he'd get the idea that his loose standard of pool cleaning effectiveness would hold sway during the course of our relationship, and I couldn't let that happen.

I recognized WE WERE NEGOTIATING HOW MUCH WORK HE WOULD DO for the money I was paying, and his "default setting" wasn't good enough.

He got the message, and ever since, he has been on his toes. Last week, during a driving rain, he showed up to at least put the chlorine in.

We smiled and waved, and all is well in the kingdom.

The next time you go to your dry cleaner ask them, "Do you have any coupons running in the paper?"

When you speak to your cell phone customer service department ask if they have any better plans since the last time you selected yours. Most likely, they do, but they won't volunteer information about them.

You've heard the saying, "If you don't ask, you don't get."

Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't a sometime thing; it's an all-the-time thing."

Get ready for those really big negotiations by practicing in life's small ones.