Contract Negotiation Training Resources - giving you tactics for the future
During and when you complete your contract negotiation training programme with us you will receive a comprehensive set of notes on all the topics covered. These notes can act as vital resource to you in future ensuring you never have to face a negotiation situation unprepared.
Continued support and tactics from our contract negotiation training team
All delegates have the opportunity to bounce ideas or issues off our coaches after any group training programme. What is more we are happy to assist you in the future. If you find yourself tackling a tricky issue or faced with a particularly challenging negotiation give one of our coaches a call and we'd be happy to talk it through.
If you would like find out more about the resources we can provide as part of our contract negotiation training contact us. Alternatively, find out more about our training or sign up for our negotiation newsletter or take a look at our book reviews below.
Resources and tactics available to everyone - find out what we'd recommend
Book reviews
Background reading is a great way to bolster competence and confidence in negotiation. Below are our top picks...
If we have the item in our Reference Library and you are a past delegate, we are happy to lend you a copy. The notation (a or v) after the title indicates whether we have an audio or video version as well. We have rated them from from 1 to 4 stars.
Getting
to Yes: The Secret to Successful Negotiation (a) ****
by Roger Fisher and William Ury
Probably regarded as the single most influential book written on negotiation. The main tenet of the book is to ensure that you focus on win win negotiation - primarily by trying to deal with people's underlying interests rather than positions. They were the people that first coined the acronym BATNA. Our only issue with the book is that it does not really deal with the conflict that is all too frequent in negotiations with big customers. Essential reading for anyone who is serious about negotiation!
Influence: Science and Practice ****
by Robert B. Cialdini
If ever you have to persuade other people, you must read this book. Most other books on the subject pale into insignificance.
Negotiate
to close (b)****
by Gary Karass
Written primarily for sales people, it's easy to read, and although quite simplistic there were some great insights. Particularly useful was the section on how sellers assumptions compared with the reality of the situation.
Spin Selling(a,v)****
by Neil Rackham
If you are serious about selling you must read this book. This is one
of the best researched insights into sales behaviour, and clearly identifies
what makes the best the best and how they go about closing major sales.
How to Negotiate Better Deals ****
by Jeremy Thorn
Although this book appears to be written for people without masses of
negotiation experience, I think this is a great all round book. If you
are looking for something to give you a grounding in many different
aspects of negotiation, this is well worth reading. I would recommend
this book irrespective of how experienced you are.
Legal
Negotiation and Settlement ****
by Gerald Willams
Although this book is primarily based around lawyers, It gives a fantastic
insight of how behaving aggressively affects outcomes. Reasonably easy
to read, but as it is written by an academic, it’s not for the
faint hearted!
Pocket
Negotiator ****
by Gavin Kennedy
This is one of the first books I ever read on negotiation and made me
a Kennedy fan. It is presented in alphabetical order and is a good book
to pick up and put down. The section I found particularly interesting
was on force projection – a ploy for altering the other party’s
expectations. (He did this from both the buyer and seller perspective)
Negotiating the Best Deal - techniques that really work****
by Gerald Atkinson
This is the single best book written about negotiation preparation. If you are in a situation where you have less power than the other party (or where you think you have less power than the other party) you can't afford not to read this book.
The Truth About Negotiations****
by Leigh Thompson
Yet another great book written by the author of the mind and heart of the negotiator. It is very easy to read and she is one of the leading authorities in the field. Although it is easy to read there are some fantastic nuggets of research in there. One example is that when a team negotiates against a lone negotiator, the lone negotiator claimed about one third less than what the team is able to claim.
by Stephen Schiffman
If you have to make appointments on the telephone and you only read one book it should be this one. Chapter 5 (turning around common responses) I thought was particularly helpful. It's well written and easy to read with loads of tips and hints.
Secrets of Successful Telephone Selling****
by Robert W Bly
This is well worth reading - it is particularly good at making subtle suggestions on how to overcome everyday issues. I found the section on Answer / Ask particularly helpful.
Negotiate
anywhere – (How to succeed in international markets) ***
by Gavin Kennedy
Kennedy’s books are generally worth reading – and this is
no exception. This is a very detailed book on how to negotiate in different
countries and is well worth a read if you are about to start negotiating
abroad. The other two books worth reading are: Negotiate anything with
anyone anywhere in the world by Frank Acuff and Kiss Bow or Shake Hands.
Make sure you test any assumptions you make – it’s dangerous
to stereotype whole races!
Negotiation
basics (Concepts Skills and Exercises) ***
by Ralph Johnson
This is a good book, well written and properly referenced. The one thing
I particularly like in the book is the way that Johnson keeps asking
you to reflect on situations that you have been in – and to consider
positions and exercises. To get much out of the book you need to read
it all the way through – you can’t really just dip in and
out to review bits of interest.
by Dan Coen
A good book, covering all the basics with tips easily highlighted through the book. The only negative I thought was it may be targeted too heavily in favour of business to consumer sales.
The complete negotiator ***
by Gerard Nierenberg
Widely respected as one of the definitive texts on negotiation. On page
202 he makes a great (but obvious) point: Many organisations feel that
purchasing is merely an administrative function – other people
have determined to buy the products and the purchaser’s role is
purely perfunctory.This is true in a large number of organisations,
and training for these people is usually a “quick win” for
most large organisations.
The Perfect Negotiation ***
by Gavin Kennedy
If you’ve only got an hour to read about the principles of negotiation
– read this!
Managing Negotiations ***
by Gavin Kennedy
Well worth reading, particularly the section on ploys.
by James March
March (a pseudonym) is ex-SAS and the book is about his experiences in hostage kidnap negotiation. I don't like biographies, and although this was a bit repetitive there were some fascinating insights into negotiating with hostagetakers. If you want to read something a bit more off the wall about negotiation this is well worth reading.
The Power of Persuasion (how we’re bought and sold) ***
by Robert Levine
This book builds on, and frequently quotes, Cialdini. Well worth reading, particularly the chapter on experts, honesty and likeability.
by Steven Schwartz
Not a bad book - but spends too much time talking about the motivation side. When I bought the book I was more interested in the technical aspects of making cold calls - on the basis that I think you'll be very unlikely to alter your motivation primarily by reading a book!
How
to Negotiate **
by Ann Jackman
Draws on the principles from “getting to yes”. Included
some interesting suggestions on power – but this was also included
in other texts. It suggests an 8 stage process for negotiation –
which seem to be overcomplicated for most negotiations. It also draws
on the Rackham research and uses a simple conflict model which has some
merit. Also states Mehrabian’s work on ways of communicating as
a fact - without giving the context. It’s not a bad book –
but it appears to have nothing new to add.
Selling by Phone**
by Linda Richardson
Probably could've been completed using half the number of pages. I thought the chapter on the telephone call formatting and the call preparation worksheet were very useful.
Negotiating **
by Patrick Forsyth
Uses a 10 step negotiating model (too complicated) but he does make
reference to the generation of a range of variables to avoid polarising
the negotiation around one or a couple of issues.
by James Borg
This is billed on the cover as the world's best-selling book on persuasion. It is not a patch on either Cialdini’s or Levine’s. It is a combination of NLP and pop psychology, but it is easy to read and if you don't know much about the subject it is probably fine. He quotes Mehrabian’s 55,38,7 rule (email us if you want more about this) out of context as do most authors.
Chess and the Art of Negotiation *
by Anatoly Karpov and Jean-Francois Phelizon
This promised much but to my mind doesn't really deliver. Karpov made the point that chess is not the same as negotiation because everyone starts off in the same power position. The book is really one guy (Kouatly) interviewing Karpov and Phelizon - who was the CEO of Saint Gobain. Shame really - I had high hopes!
Start
With No (a) *
by Jim Camp
This book has, to my mind, been published purely on the back of the success of "Getting to Yes" with the idea of being provocative. Although the book has some merit, it would be quite a long way down my reading list!
Getting
past No (Negotiating with difficult people) *
by William Ury
A follow up to “Getting to Yes”. Promises more than it delivers.
Sold well but not a “must read” in my view.
Secrets of the Power Negotiator *
by Roger Dawson
This is one of the most disappointing books I have read. Like Tony Robbins, Dawson is a marketeer par excellence. He fills auditoriums and runs a highly successful business! He spends a lot of time talking about gambits and tactics which is of some value. The two points I would particularly take issue with were: 1. “never name your price first” - although obviously there are circumstances when it works, most of the research suggests that this is unsuccessful. 2. His chapter about how to negotiate with the English recounts how most of us enjoy a long liquid lunch and are not interested in getting involved in any confrontation! Maybe 20 years ago this was partly true, but I think he is assuming that Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins was actually English! (The copy I purchased was reprinted in 2001 - it may have been updated since)
Escaping the Price Driven Sale*
by Snyder and Kearns
This was very disappointing. If you have read “spin selling” this adds very little. The most interesting part in the book is the chapter entitled “because change is not an option”. Next time you have some time to kill at an airport, see if you can find a copy in a bookstore and just read that chapter!
Motivation*
by Philip Whiteley
Promises more than it delivers. What I particularly liked about the book was the way that it was structured. At the beginning of each chapter was a summary - so you could decide whether there is any benefit in reading that chapter. Are
30 minutes to negotiate a better deal*
by Brian Finch
Bearing in mind this book is supposed to be a quick “heads up”,
it tries to cover too many areas (eg body language), and to my mind
doesn’t really cover any of them in enough detail.
30 minutes to improve your telesales techniques*
by Chris de Winter
Although this book was only £3.00 - I probably should have spent the money on a pint of lager.