Who is the author of You Can Negotiate Anything?

Herb Cohen is the author of You Can Negotiate Anything.

Communication Skills

You Can Negotiate Anything Book Summary - You Can Negotiate Anything Book explained in key points

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You Can Negotiate Anything summary

Name: You Can Negotiate Anything
Rating: 4.1 (414 reviews)
Author: Herb Cohen

Herb Cohen

Anything you want, you got it

4.1 (414 ratings)

16 mins

Brief summary

You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen is a practical guide for effective communication and negotiation skills. It provides tips for building relationships, understanding different perspectives, and finding creative solutions.

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Table of Contents

You Can Negotiate Anything
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

Most things in the world can be negotiated, so you should learn to do it well.

Life is a constant stream of negotiations. Whether you’re trying to get your son to behave at a fancy restaurant or your boss to give you a raise, any situation where you try to affect someone else’s behavior is basically a negotiation.

Most things in the world are negotiable. Prices at fancy department stores, mortgages or speeding tickets can all be negotiated, as long as you know how. Even notoriously inflexible entities such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will negotiate with you, because the tax officials, at the end of the day, are just people like the rest of us. Because negotiations are so ubiquitous, don’t you think it’s time you started improving your skills in that arena?

Sometimes negotiating is just a matter of talking to the right person. Every organization has a hierarchy, and the lowest rungs always have the least power to grant you what you wish. So if the lackeys can’t help you, demand to speak to managers, directors, and so on, until you find someone with sufficient authority to make concessions.

Once at a Mexican hotel, the author was told that this hotel had no room for him. He calmly asked for the manager, and inquired:

“Would you have room for the President of Mexico if he shows up?”

“Sí, Señor.”

“Well, he’s not coming, so I’ll take his room.”

In general, the only factors that should affect your decision to negotiate for something are whether you are comfortable negotiating for it, whether a negotiation will result in your needs being met and whether it’s worth the effort.

Most things in the world can be negotiated, so you should learn to do it well.

Avoid Soviet-style negotiators – they mistake negotiations for battlefields.

Some people see negotiations as a win-lose battle, where one party’s gain is always the other party’s loss. This “winning at all costs” strategy is deployed around the globe, but the former Soviet Union is a prime example of its use. Because these negotiation tactics are so widespread, you must be able to identify them and protect yourself against them.

A clear trait of Soviet-style negotiators is that they take ridiculous initial positions and are then unwilling to make significant concessions. When the Soviet Union sought to purchase land on Long Island for its embassy’s recreational use, it initially offered $125,000 for the property worth $420,000. When the seller dropped the price to $360,000, the Soviets viewed this as a sign of weakness.

Collaborative win-win negotiations are possible when everyone’s needs are identified and harmonized.

A win-lose negotiation mindset implies that there is a set amount of “pie” to be divided up, and each party must fight for theirs. If both parties fight ferociously, the common solution is a compromise, which despite its positive connotations actually means both parties are giving up something that they want. But a true win-win negotiation is also possible.

Usually people focus on the demands the other side makes in a negotiation, whereas they should really try to understand their underlying needs and unexpressed desires. Since every person has unique, differing needs, several people can usually be satisfied without anyone losing. This requires their needs to be harmonized.

Successful negotiation means tapping into the many sources of power at your disposal.

In negotiations, the opposing sides usually have many sources of power at their disposal.

For example, when negotiating with your boss, she usually has a very concrete form of power at her disposal: the power to reward or punish you through e.g. the tasks she assigns to you.

Make it hard for the other side to say no, but guard yourself against this same tactic.

Imagine you’re still trying to buy a fridge at a department store. What kind of powers could you use to improve your chances of getting a discount?

Instead of going straight for the model you want, you could ask the sales clerk to show you every single fridge in the store. You ask lots of technical questions, forcing him to dig up manuals for each model, and then you say that you’ll have to think about it. The next day, you come back with your brother and ask the sales clerk to again demonstrate every model in the shop since your brother “knows about fridges”.

The distribution and sharing of information can greatly affect your negotiation success.

If you know the needs, deadlines and constraints of your counterpart in a negotiation, you are always in a strong position compared to your opponent.

You gather this information by starting early. Most people think of negotiations as a clearly defined event that happens at a given moment in time, like when you meet with your boss to discuss a raise. In fact, negotiations are a process and this process begins far before you actually sit down at a table.

Deadlines can influence negotiations, but don’t consider them absolute.

Time plays a key role in negotiations. Just as students tend to hand in their term papers at the last minute, so too do negotiations tend to make the most progress as the deadline approaches.

If your opponent’s deadline for concluding negotiations is at noon, whereas you have no fixed deadline and could go on negotiating at a leisurely pace for weeks, who do you think has the advantage? You do because as your opponent’s deadline approaches, she will need to start making concessions to ensure a deal is reached.

When you negotiate, make it personal – but in a good way.

In any negotiation, you will increase your chances of success if you can make things personal by getting the opposing side to identify with you as a human being. This could be as simple as behaving decently and generally being likeable, but some skilled negotiators also try to win sympathy from their opponents by playing weak.

For instance, if a cop pulls you over on the highway, you will be much better off playing the lost tourist on the brink of tears than a know-it-all big shot in a hurry.

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What is You Can Negotiate Anything about?

You Can Negotiate Anything (1980) shows that negotiations occur in every walk of life and that it is vital to have the skills and understanding to deal with those situations. The book outlines the key factors affecting negotiation success, as well as ways of negotiating for win-win solutions.

You Can Negotiate Anything Review

You Can Negotiate Anything (1980) by Herb Cohen is a book that provides valuable insights and strategies for successful negotiation. Here's why this book is worth reading:

With its practical tips and techniques, it empowers readers to navigate any negotiation scenario with confidence and skill.
Through real-world examples and stories, Cohen brings the subject matter to life, making it relatable and applicable to readers' own experiences.
The book's engaging approach and emphasis on win-win solutions make negotiation intriguing and leave readers eager to put the strategies into practice.

Who should read You Can Negotiate Anything?

Anyone who has ever negotiated with their spouse, boss or the telephone company, and wants to get better at it
Anyone who wants to protect themselves against abuse from aggressive negotiators
Anyone who wants to negotiate for mutual satisfaction

About the Author

Herb Cohen has been a negotiator for over four decades, covering a wide range of situations from corporate mergers to international disarmament contracts and hostage negotiations. He has taught negotiation skills at many prestigious institutions, including the FBI, CIA and Harvard University. His analyses and insights have made him a subject of articles in diverse publications such as The New Yorker, The Economist, TIME magazine and Rolling Stone.

Categories with You Can Negotiate Anything

Communication Skills Management & Leadership Marketing & Sales

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