Win-Win Negotiation: How I Made $500 In Ten Minutes

 “I’d like to add that negotiating is not something to be avoided or feared – it’s an everyday part of life.” ~Leigh Steinberg

Win-win negotiation means that both parties leave the negotiation happy. Of course, you want to get what you want, but the best negotiations leave with both parties feeling satisfied. 

Win-Win Negotiation in Everyday Life

There is hardly a consumer situation I’ve encountered that wouldn’t benefit from a little negotiation. If you take the opportunity to negotiate-for a better price or an add-on service, you’ll bank more money over time. And each year, tack on extra cash and over time, it adds up.

Here’s a story from the beginning days of this website, to show you how a bit of organization and negotiation saved me $500.

Several years ago I got a call from the mechanic looking at my 1998 SUV with 100,000 miles on the odometer. He had the nerve to tell me that my timing belt needed replacing. Ordinarily, on an older car it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Yet, I had recently replaced the timing belt.

A quick view of my computerized record of all of my car maintenance showed that the timing belt had been replaced at 90,000, just 10,000 miles previously. Now, I didn’t remember the manual suggesting that the timing belt needed replacing every 10,000 miles. So, I asked the mechanic, “How long is the timing belt supposed to last?” 

He replied, About 60,000 miles.

In a matter of fact and cordial tone I mentioned, “You just installed a new timing belt about 10,000 miles ago and since the average timing belt life span is about 60,000 miles, I’m unwilling to pay for a new one.”

In this win-win negotiation strategy, I laid out the problem and surrounding issue. That same mechanic had recently installed a new timing belt. If the car needed a new one, and that same mechanic had installed the old one, then it’s unreasonable for me to pay for another one just 10,000 miles later.