My General Strategy

My goal is to illustrate each of my points with a story of service negotiation victory in the coming weeks, but I'll lay out my mode of operation here as a preview.

Please bear in mind I'm not saying that each of these tidbits are required for achieving a discount or freebie; in fact, I'm sure that some people have been very successful without some of them. I am saying that each of these will put you one step closer to achieving the desired results with little or no risk to you.

As I see it, the important things to remember are:

• Be kind and courteous: The person with whom you are negotiating may hate his job, and dealing with a jerk will worsen his already bad day.


• Be persistent: These are businesses, and they don't like giving stuff away. You may have to try two or three or eight times before you see some results.


• Be bold: Don't be afraid to presume that the person on the other end of the conversation is willing to negotiate, despite whatever he/she may say at first.


• Be aware: If there are competitors in the market for your business, do your homework and find out exactly how far they're willing to go to get it.

I will update this strategy as we go. With the input of others, I expect to refine this list to something that yields 100% satisfaction.