Start with No: The Negotiating Tools That the Pros Don't Want You to Know

Interrogative-led questions drive vision.
Nurture.
No assumptions. No expectations. Only blank slate.
Who are the decision makers? Do you know all

three times (using 3 + ) .
The clearer the picture of pain, the easier the decision-making process.
The value of the negotiation increases by multiples as time, energy, money, and emotion are spent.
No talking.
Let the adversary save face at all times.
The greatest presentation you will ever give is the one your adversary will never see.
A negotiation is only over when we want it to be over.
"No" is good, "yes" is bad, "maybe" is worse.
Absolutely no closing.
Dance with the tiger.
Our greatest strength is our greatest weakness (Emerson).
Paint the pain.
Mission and purpose drive everything.
Decisions

Mission and purpose must be set in the adversary's world; our world must be secondary.
Spend maximum time on payside activity and minimum time on nonpayside activity.
You do not need it. You only want it.
No saving. You cannot save the adversary.
Only one person in a negotiation can feel okay. That person is the adversary.
All action—all decision—begins with vision. Without vision, there is no action.
Always show respect to the blocker.
All agreements must be clarified point by point and sealed