Customer Reviews

Negotiation Boot Camp: How to Resolve Conflict, Satisfy Customers, and Make Better Deals

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this book a lot. Most negotiating books are either so complicated that you'd have to be an ambassador to understand them or so aggressive in their tactics that you wouldn't want to use them. This book is a perfect balance of ethical methods that will make you a winner. Ed Brodow is a competitor of mine on the negotiating lecture circuit and he has done an excellent job of distilling his all-day boot camp into a highly readable book. From Roger Dawson, Author of "Secrets of Power Negotiation."

The best book on negotiation ever written! Most of these books are boring and trite. I read this one
yesterday and it has already made money for me in a pending business deal! Ed Brodow teaches negotiating
to the pros at Microsoft, AT&T, Starbucks, the Pentagon, etc. These people don't fool around, so you
know this is the real McCoy! His boot camp runs you through all the elements of a successful negotiation,
from creating your targets and strategies, to dealing with tough-to-handle tactics, and when to walk away.
He leaves it up to you to decide whether you want to be an adversarial or cooperative negotiator, although
he describes how the win-win approach can make your life a lot easier. He also shows how to negotiate for
personal items like your salary, department store purchases, and medical bills. Each chapter includes
plenty of real-world examples from both business world and day-to-day situations. I have to agree with former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt: "Negotiation Boot Camp shows us how to succeed - not just in negotiations but also in life itself. This is a must-read."

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I have been trying to find a good book on negotiating for years. Women really must learn to hone their negotiating skills. As soon as I got into the book I realized that, to one degree or another, I have been negotiating for years about all kinds of things. What I needed to know was that there is almost nothing that is not up for negotiation. I started practicing and found that just about everything I thought was "writ in stone" - was not! I satisfactorily navigated several small things, like phone and credit card payments, cost of my bank checks and even a barter situation I had previously thought impossible. But today was the ultimate test: my car broke down and I was quoted a dozen repairs on it. For one thing, it turned out that it really only needed three immediately. The cost was very high. My husband walked around grumbling and ready to rip up a tree when I gave him the quote. He said, "Oh, just get it done. Call them back and agree to it." Well, I did call them back. But I told them that we only had so much money in the bank, that my husband's truck had recently been stolen (ok, so it was a year ago) and we were really hurting financially (who isn't?). They told me to hold the line and came back with a quote that was HALF the original! I felt like a hero! I went out to my husband and told him what had happened. He said, "How can that be?" I said, "Negotiation Boot Camp," that;s how!" Thank you to this wonderful author. I will use these newly-discovered skills for the rest of my life, and it just makes life more fun. I can hardly wait to negotiate the next conundrum, whether it be commercial or social. Yay!

Wow! I have read many books on negotiation over the years. This is the one that quickly succinctly and immediately does the job.

His ten tips and the supporting examples are exactly what any salesperson absolutelt needs to know and use.

1. Develop "Negotiation Consciousness"
2. Be a good listener
3. Be prepared
4. Aim high
5. Be patient
6. Focus on satisfaction
7. Don't make the first move
8. Don't accept the first offer
9. Don't make unilateral concessions
10. Always be willing to walk away.

There is more much more in this tiny treasure. Buy it, read it regularly and do not lend it!

Even if you will never negotiate a hostage crisis, a business meeting, or even a PTA dispute - this is a book you must read. It saved me money. Here is my story:

I had a problem with obtaining my car title from the lender. They quoted us, told us the title would be sent in a month if we paid $X dollars. We sent the payment and celebrated - but never received the title. The next month a collector called to tell me I owed them $600. I explained the situation, and that didn't help. They said I still owed.

Luckily I had been listening to Negotiation Boot Camp. Brodow says that you never have to accept what another company offers. So I rejected their offer of paying them with a late charge and I asked them who was in charge.

I was transferred up the chain of command until I reached someone who had the ability to negotiate with me. I took an extreme position with all the employees I spoke with refusing to pay the $600 - including sending a letter to the president of the company asking for my title.

When it came by to negotiate, the person accepted my extreme position without me ever having asked for it directly from him. But I couldn't accept it because my bottom line also needed to be met - I wanted paperwork that said the title was paid in full and signed. So I asked for that too. He accepted. I received everything I asked for, and I saved $600. All of these moves were learned from Ed Brodow.

My wife initially told me to pay the $600 and get them off our backs. But showing her the fax that said we didn't owe anymore, I told her that it was Brodow's book - now she's hooked. From my perspective, not only did the book pay for itself, but it saved me money and gave me my car.

My thought is, you never know when you will have to negotiate. You might as well be prepared. And this is the book to prepare you. I'm buying this book for my boss after I negotiate a pay raise.

Negotiation Boot Camp has changed the way I do business. Mr. Brodow explains it all in a way that makes perfect sense. His success stories inspired me to test the waters myself. I have saved a ton of money and aggravation by following his advice. I have encouraged many of my close contacts to read it and now I am encouraging all of you. You will be extremely happy that you did!

Brodow provides a very useful summary for those needing to negotiate - eg. for a raise, starting salary, buying or selling a house or car, etc. Overall suggestions are made (eg. the most important trait is listening, with the ability to ask good open-ended questions also important; be willing to walk away; have a pre-thought minimum acceptable, target, and high target prior to beginning), followed by specific suggestions for certain situations and involving specific personalities.

I would suggest giving the book a quick read, then keeping it handy to refer to in future negotiations.

Ed Brodow brings years of experience in sales, acting and consulting to his direct, concise, practical and anecdotal tome of terrific ideas. For those of us who loathe negotiating, he reminds us that we do it daily in our professional and personal lives and that we can adopt actions that work.

After reading his practical, conversational book, I was inspired to make a call to an airline that charged me to change a "free" ticket. The voucher for the exact amount of that charge is in the mail to me. Ed Brodow's ideas and techniques worked for me and they will for you! Buy it now, it's the best investment you'll make.

The book is a stripped course in the essentials of negotiation. All the steps needed to improve your skills and improve your results are simply and clearly stated with quick explanations of each.

Don't get me wrong, because I think this book is very, very helpful. However, it is quick. The examples are quick, so if you have no background in sales, bargaining, negotiation, or mediation, the examples may not sell you on the techniques. However, as other reviews point out and from my other readings, I would say that the steps and suggestions from Brodow and squarely on the mark.

The book is a little misleading. From the examples and subtitle (How to Resolve Conflict, Satisfy Customers, and Make Better Deals), you would think that the book is primarily geared towards salesman. Don't let that distract you from the lessons. The comments listed are helpful in all situations of conflict resolution. The 70/30 rule is universal.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about and fine-tune his or her skills in negotiation.

As a senior executive, I have negotiated for years and I always thought I knew what I was doing. Reading Mr. Brodow's classic book, I realize that many of the things I have been doing were not only wrong, they were sabotaging my business dealings. Negotiation Boot Camp explained to me in a clear and concise way how to do it correctly. The right questions to ask. The inner game of negotiation, so to speak. Brodow is especially good in his application of his "three rules for win-win negotiating" to managing and motivating employees. The bonus is all of the non-business ideas, such as negotiating at Bloomindales and with the I.R.S.