“I’m here to sign-up for the stupid American of the day award.”   What made me say that? I’m on the wrong side of customs in Australia and my bags are still inside. And I’m not interested in getting stranded and missing my connection, or wearing the same clothes for five days and brushing my teeth with the hotel provided toothbrush.

The ability to repair suffering relationships is a vital business skill. Cultivating emotional intelligence and control will give you a competitive edge in the negotiation and empower you to be effective under pressure.

To be a compelling and consistent negotiator, it’s important to keep learning new skills and evolving your approach as you grow. Even veteran negotiators can benefit from some expert tips. We’ve laid out six tried-and-true methods to help you fine-tune your negotiation skills and improve your effectiveness in business dealings.

“Do the homework, and the test is easy.” Dr. Jeff Spencer You need about 63-65 repetitions of use of a skill to build the neural pathway, so its use is comfortable, to put you on the path to mastery. But how? Where can you get your low stakes practice for your high stakes performance?

This is also the #1 way to deal with everyone who wants to suck up your time on the phone, from colleagues to cold-calling sales-people with “Have you got a few minutes to talk?”

When someone asks you “How much?”, what’s the worst thing you can do? Answer with a price. The traditional wisdom is “He (or she) who names a price first loses.” The academics will advise you the opposite! They say seize the initiative and set the price range with an anchor!

The secret to gaining the upper hand in negotiation is to give the other side the illusion of control.  If knowledge is power, what you really want to gain is knowledge in the interaction without really giving much information away.  Here’s how to flip the control dynamic on it’s head and enjoy the process. 

The Accusations Audit. (And the crazy thing is women are killing it with this!)  Across the board, our clients are hitting the biggest home-runs by leading with this strategy. From divorce negotiations, to astounding deals with insurance companies that even ambulance chasers wouldn’t take, to multi-million-dollar government contracts.

If they’re talking to you, you have leverage. Who has the leverage in a kidnapping? As crazy as it sounds, it’s the people negotiating on behalf of the victim. After all, where else are the kidnappers going to go to get a ransom. Can you apply this to your negotiations?

Bosses reward people they trust and who are effective. And when in doubt? They lean towards those they trust. Here’s how to achieve both.