The Intelligent Negotiator (31 page)

When car dealers are required to perform warranty work, they occasionally try to make up for their lost revenues by finding additional work that should be done. A few years ago, my wife and I took our recently purchased car to the dealer for regular service. During the day, the shop called to say that our brake rotors were a bit worn and needed to be resurfaced at a cost of over $100. Since the brakes seemed to be working fine, we declined this suggestion. Although the dealer tried to suggest that this decision might cause an accident if the brakes subsequently failed, we still refused to have the work done. We later discovered that the manufacturer had instructed its dealers to replace the brake pads in our model due to unusually rapid wear. The dealer was required to perform
this work for the manufacturer and sought to make up for the lost revenue by inducing customers to pay to have the rotors resurfaced when this procedure was not necessary given the limited mileage on the vehicle.

Even when you don’t seek out repair work, you may be taken by unscrupulous individuals. Classic examples include scammers who ring your doorbell and inform you that they are roofers or driveway repair people who are working in the neighborhood. They offer to reseal your roof or driveway for a bargain price. If you accept their offer, they are likely to cover your shingles or driveway with a worthless solution that may briefly look impressive, but have no lasting impact. If you are considering having these services performed, retain a reputable local firm and get an estimate before you commission any work.

Another scam involves people traveling on out-of-state trips who, when they stop for gas, are told by unscrupulous service station mechanics that their shock absorbers or brakes are leaking. Such mechanics squirt shock absorber or brake fluid on the ground beneath your car while you are visiting the restroom or buying food and drinks, and show you the “leaking” fluid when you return to your car. They look concerned and suggest that further travel with the vehicle in this condition could be highly dangerous. To avoid this common scam, never leave your car unattended when you stop at out-of-state service stations for gas. If you are alone, remain with the car while your tank is being filled. Once that task is finished, pull to the side of the station to visit the bathroom or to purchase food. If you are traveling with others, have someone stay by the car while the others visit the facilities or buy food. If they know that someone is watching, you won’t be cheated this way.

If you suspect that an out-of-state mechanic might be telling the truth about a possible shock absorber or brake leak, take your car to the local car dealer and ask for an inspection. If the service station mechanic was trying to scam you, the car dealer service personnel are likely to wipe off the fluid sprayed on the shock absorbers or brake lines and send you on your way. If you actually have a problem, the dealer can confirm that fact and give you an estimate for the work.

S
UMMARY
P
OINTS

• Negotiation skills can minimize the possibility of unfairly high repair bills.
  

• Find a reputable shop. Describe your problems as specifically as possible.
  

• Agree on the exact work to be done and the specific price for that work.
  

• Get written work orders containing the exact price for the work and stating any applicable warranties.
  

• Know when escalating repair costs make it economically preferable to replace the malfunctioning vehicle or appliance.
  

• Don’t let repair shops or repair persons charge you for unauthorized or unnecessary work.
  

P
REPARING TO
N
EGOTIATE:
A P
REPARATION
F
ORM

T
he Negotiation Preparation Checklist leads you through a series of questions designed to ensure thorough preparation in any upcoming bargaining situation. Ask yourself how you would answer each question. What would your ultimate bargaining objectives be, and how would you plan to get from your opening position to where you hope to end up?

N
EGOTIATION
P
REPARATION
F
ORM

1. Your Bottom Line:
Determine the minimum terms you would accept given your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). Don’t forget to include the monetary and non-monetary transaction costs associated with both settlement and non-settlement.

2. Your Aspiration Level:
Identify the best results you think you could possibly achieve. Be certain your aspiration level is sufficiently high. Don’t begin a negotiation until you have mentally solidified your ultimate objective with respect to
each item
that is to be exchanged.

3. Your Counterpart’s Bottom Line:
Estimate your counterpart’s bottom line, being certain to include the monetary and non-monetary transaction costs when estimating the external alternatives that may be available to your opponent.

4. Your Counterpart’s Aspiration Level:
Estimate your counterpart’s bargaining objectives, trying to use his or her value system.

5. Your Arguments:
Plan support for your position with respect to
each issue
to be discussed. Prepare logical explanations supporting your strengths and anticipate the ways you might minimize possible positional weaknesses.

6. Your Counterpart’s Arguments:
Anticipate your opponent’s support for his or her claims with respect to the various issues. Prepare innovative counterarguments that can you use to challenge the claims you expect opponent to make.

7. Your Planned Opening Position:
Always request more or offer less than you hope to achieve. Prepare rational explanations to support each component of your principled opening offer.

8. Information You Seek:
Determine what you plan to elicit from your opponent during the Information Exchange to determine his or her underlying needs, interests, and objectives. What information-seeking questions do you anticipate using?

9. Information You Plan to Offer:
Decide what information you are willing to disclose to your opponent during the Information Exchange and how you plan to divulge it. How do you plan to prevent the disclosure of your sensitive information (
“Blocking Techniques”
)?

10. Your Negotiation Strategy:
Plan your anticipated concession pattern carefully to disclose only the information you intend to divulge and prepare principled explanations to support each planned concession.

11. Your Opponent’s Negotiation Strategy and Your Countermeasures:
Predict what your opponent’s strategy will be and how can you neutralize your opponent’s strengths and exploit his or her weaknesses.

12. Your Negotiating Techniques:
Decide what tactics you plan to use to advance your interests. (Be prepared to vary them and to combine them for optimal impact.)

13. Your Opponent’s Negotiating Techniques:
Anticipate the techniques you expect your counterpart to use, and decide how you might counter those tactics.

N
OTES

Introduction

1.
Daniel Goleman,
Emotional Intelligence
(New York: Bantam, 1995).

Chapter 1

1.
Gerald Williams,
Legal Negotiation and Settlement
(St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1983): 18-39.

2.
Andrea Kupfer Schneider, “Shattering Negotiation Myths: Empirical Evidence on the Effectiveness of Negotiation Style,”
Harvard Negotiation Law Review 7
(2002): 143, 167.

3.
James G. Sammataro, “Business and Brotherhood, Can They Coincide? A Search into Why Black Athletes Do Not Hire Black Agents,”
Howard Law Journal 42
(1999):
535.

4.
Charles B. Craver, “Race and Negotiation Performance,”
Dispute Resolution Magazine 8
(Fall 2001): 22.

5.
Nicky Marone,
Women and Risk
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992): 42-45; Valerie Miner and Helen Longino,
Competition: A Feminist Taboo?
(New York: Feminist Press, 1987): 50-55.

6.
Ian Ayres, “Fair Driving, Gender and Race Discrimination in Retail Car Negotiations,”
Harvard Law Review 104
(1991): 817.

7.
Charles B. Craver and David W. Barnes, “Gender, Risk Taking, and Negotiation Performance,”
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 5
(1999): 328-333.

Chapter 2

1.
Roger Fisher and William Ury,
Getting to Yes
(New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1981): 101-111.

2.
Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, “The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice,”
Science 211
(1981): 453.

Chapter 4

1.
Jo-Elian Dimitrius and Mark Mazzarella,
Reading People
(New York: Random House, 1998).

2.
Desmond Morris,
Bodytalk
(New York: Crown Publishing, 1994).

3.
Paul Ekman,
Telling Lies
(New York: W. W. Norton, 1992).

4.
Robert Bastress and Joseph Harbaugh,
Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1990): 493.

5.
Robert Bastress and Joseph Harbaugh,
Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1990): 483.

Chapter 5

1.
Robert Bastress and Joseph Harbaugh,
Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1990): 439-440.

2.
Manuel J. Smith,
When I Say No, I Feel Guilty
(New York: Bantam Books, 1975).

Chapter 6

1.
Joel Chandler Harris,
The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus,
compiled by Richard Chase (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955): 875.

Chapter 8

1.
Robert Axelrod,
The Evolution of Cooperation
(New York: Basic Books, 1984).

2.
Robert Axelrod,
The Evolution of Cooperation
(New York: Basic Books, 1984): 109-124.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Charles Craver is the Leroy S. Merrifield Research Professor of Law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he teaches legal negotiating. He has taught more than 60,000 lawyers and businesspeople negotiation skills in workshops conducted throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, England, and the People’s Republic of China. He is the author of
Effective Legal Negotiation and Settlement
(4th Edition, 2001; Lexis/Nexis), coauthor of
Alternative Dispute Resolution: The Advocate’s Perspective
(2nd Edition, 2001; Lexis/Nexis), and author or coauthor of eight other books and numerous professional publications. Craver previously practiced law in San Francisco, and is currently a negotiation consultant, mediator, and arbitrator. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife.

Copyright © 2002 by Charles Craver

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Random House, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.
Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
www.crownpublishing.com

Originally published in hardcover by Prima Publishing, Roseville, California, in 2003.

This book is not intended as a substitute for professional, legal, or financial advice. As laws may vary from state to state, readers should consult a competent legal or financial professional for more detailed advice. In addition, readers should understand that the business world is highly dynamic and contains certain risks. Therefore, the author and publisher cannot warrant or guarantee that the use of any information contained in this book will work in any given situation.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Craver, Charles B.
      The intelligent negotiator : what to say, what to do, and how to get what you want—every time / Charles Craver.
          p.     cm.
      1. Negotiation. I. Title.
  BF637.N4.C74   2002
  302.3—dc21                                                                           2002066304

eISBN: 978-0-307-55707-0

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