Back in the day, when money was flowing and people were feeling fine, giving a little without getting anything in return was not a problem. Today, it's a problem. Volumes are down, margins are shrinking and you have to add more to the bottom line. This article provides five suggestions for things you can do right now to improve your negotiation skills and the quality of the deals you land.

By listening to Jeanette's interview you will learn how to: Effectively negotiate price; Manage hardball tactics; Uncover hidden motivations; Use tradeoffs for maximum impact.

There is a lot of power in making an opening offer. In fact, the opening offer anchors the entire price conversation. Do you want to set the anchor, or allow the customer to set the anchor? This must be a conscience choice.

Researches at MIT's Media Lab found that body language, vocal pattern and vocal pitch are so critical to human trust that researchers could predict the success of a sales pitch by reading body language alone. They didn't even have to hear the content of the pitch!

Haggling is not negotiating. Haggling is about offering your product for a reduced margin - you're simply making price concessions until the buyer says yes. Negotiation though, is about getting something of equal or higher value in return for any concessions you make.

If price is the focus of your discussions with prospects or customers, the unspoken assumption is that your products or services are basically identical to competing products or services. Is this assumption valid? Are there really no identifiable (and quantifiable) differences between your products and services and competing products and services?

How good are you at hanging onto your profit when you're the seller and your money when you're the buyer? One simple technique can make you much better at it. It works even when no money is trading hands!

It often does more harm than good to discuss price before you and the prospect have determined whether your product or service can provide value to the prospect. What do you do if the prospect asks you to quote a price before the value discussion has taken place?

What kind of response do you usually get when you present the price of your company's products or services? Do your prospects say, "Wow, that sounds cheap - how soon can I get it?" Or, is their response more like, "Oh...I wasn't expecting to pay that much." If you get the second response with any regularity, the problem may be that you are discussing the price of your product or service "in a vacuum."