By James A. Gage

Your approach in a negotiation dramatically affects the outcome of the deal. I've distilled this concept down to three essential principles. These principles are always at work for you and will help you get what you want smoothly.

Get the Other Side to Commit First
Skilled negotiators know that you're better off if you can get the other side to commit to a position first. Several reasons are obvious:

1) Their first offer may be much better than you expected.

2) You get information about the other party before you have to tell them anything about your self or your bottom line.

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3) You can bracket their proposal. If they state a price first, you can bracket them, so if you end up splitting the difference, you'll get what you want.

The less you know about the other side's limits, the more important the principle of not showing all your cards. In the case that both sides know not to go first, don't sit there forever while both sides refuse to put a number on the table. As a rule, though, you should strive to find out what the other side wants first.

Act Dumb, Not Smart
To a great negotiator, smart is dumb and dumb is smart. When you are negotiating, you're better off acting as if you know less than everybody else does, not more. The dumber you act, the better off you are unless your apparent I.Q. sinks to a point where you lack any credibility. There is a good reason for this.

With a few rare exceptions, human beings tend to help people that they see as less intelligent or informed, rather than taking advantage of them. Of course there are a few ruthless people out there who will try to take advantage of the weak, but most people want to compete with those they see as brighter and help those they see as less bright. So the reason for acting dumb is that it diffuses the competitive spirit of the other side.

How can you fight someone who is asking you to help them negotiate with you? How can you carry on any type of competitive banter with a person who says, "I don't know, what do you think?" Most people, when faced with this situation, feel sorry for the other person and go out of their way to help him or her.

Ever watch the TV show Columbo? Peter Falk played a detective who walked around in an old raincoat and a mental fog, chewing on an old cigar butt. He constantly wore an expression that suggested he had just misplaced something and couldn't even remember what it was. In fact, his success was directly attributable to how smart he was - by acting dumb. His demeanor was so disarming that the murderers themselves came close to wanting him to solve his cases because he appeared to be so helpless.

Concentrate on the Issues
Negotiators know that they should concentrate on the issues and not be distracted by the actions of the other negotiators. If you've ever watched tennis on television and seen a highly emotional star jumping up and down at the other end of the court, you may have wondered to yourself, "How on Earth can anybody play tennis against somebody like that? It's such a game of concentration; it doesn't seem fair."

The answer is that good tennis players understand that only one thing affects the outcome of the game of tennis: the movement of the ball across the net. What the other player is doing doesn't change the outcome of the game, as long as you know what the ball is doing. So, tennis players learn to concentrate on the ball, not on the other person. When you're negotiating, the ball is the movement of the goal concessions across the negotiation table. It's the only thing that affects the outcome of the game.

Superior negotiators always want the other party thinking that they came out the winner. Start by asking for more than you expect to get. Continue by serving up some gambits that are designed to service the perception that the other side is winning. End by congratulating the other side. If you let these principles guide your conduct when you're negotiating, they will serve you well and help you become a Power Negotiator.

James A. Gage. is a best-selling author and internationally known expert in lease purchase, AKA rent to own real estate investing and negotiating. He mentors one-on-one throughout the U.S. and across the world. Director of the Gage Consulting Group, LCC (www.jgage.com) in Holden, MA, James can be reached at (508) 595-9567 or coach@jgage.com.

	Do you want to meet James Gage in person? Do you want to learn how Lease Options work in Massachusetts? Join us for a full day seminar on Making the Impossible Deal Possible through Lease Options coming up on October 22nd in Dedham. For more information, click here.

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