The Third of Six Traps to Avoid When Negotiating Large-Quantity Book Sales

(Editor's Note: This blog is the third in a series of six blogs, each including one of the six traps to avoid when negotiating large-quantity book sales.)

Negotiating Trap #3: Not seeking common ground.
You will run across varied personalities on your path to negotiating large-quantity sales of your books to corporate buyers. Some of these people will have a hidden agenda when dealing openly in front of their colleagues, and they may assume a more confrontational behavior. This may result from a desire to perpetuate— or establish— a reputation as “playing hardball,” and not compromising easily.

They view a negotiation as a zero-sum pie, i.e. “your gain is my loss.” It’s difficult to work under these conditions because it is politically incorrect to point out another’s irrational bias. Try to manage the tension between cooperative actions needed to create value and competitive ones needed to claim it. In essence, the pie must be both expanded and divided.

Negotiating large-quantity sales generally involves give-and-take on both sides. You each begin with your initial position, and then compromise gradually until you find a mutually acceptable middle ground.