Discount Tire, Part Two - Negotiating for What You Want

In my last blog post, I talked about how floored I was to find out you could negotiate the price of tires and how to figure out what you want when you don't know what the possibilities are.

I didn't, however, talk about the negotiation approach of the man who bought the tires.

It floored me just as much as the realization that you could negotiate on the price of tires at all.

He BARELY negotiated.

He never even specifically asked for a lower price. He just said something like, "I really wasn't expecting to have to pay that price for tires today."

Then the salesperson changed the number on the screen and said, "Is that more in the range you were looking for?"

What?!?

That's all it takes?!?

I realize that many negotiations take more than a mere suggestion.

However, I've also seen people avoid negotiating because they're not armed with every detail on the ROI and business case or they don't have a whole checklist of hyper-valid reasons to ask for the thing they want. 

Or they don't want to be too demanding, so they just let go of the thing they desire and never ask for it at all.

I will fully admit that I'm learning about negotiation. I'm learning to be clear what I want and stand in the value of what I bring to the table. I'm learning where it makes sense to give - and where it doesn't. 

Most of us weren't taught these skills and they are so critical across both our personal and professional lives. Negotiation goes way beyond compensation. It's an everyday conversation.

It starts with knowing what you want - and then asking for it.

I fully believe your life can change with just those two actions.

Know what you want. Ask for it.