Negotiating with Giants

by Peter D. Johnston

HOW DO YOU NEGOTIATE with Wal-Mart? With America's President over going to war? A pay raise from an intimidating boss? More money for a struggling start-up? Sweeping social change? A Super Bowl victory for a team of losers? The return of stolen treasure, lost rights or a canceled credit card? Your survival if you're taken hostage by an armed killer?

IN THIS AWARD-WINNING BESTSELLER, NEGOTIATION EXPERT PETER JOHNSTON surprises us with answers to these far-flung questions, laying out unique strategies and concrete steps we can all use to handle the growing number of giants in our lives. As readers, we travel across time--through riveting, real-life stories--uncovering the secrets of successful smaller players so we, too, can get what we want against the odds.

Genres: Business

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2008

About the author

PETER D. JOHNSTON is an internationally renowned negotiation expert and the bestselling author of Negotiating with Giants (nonfiction). His expertise—which has been formally recognized by the US Government for its positive impact—is sought worldwide by individuals and organizations. A former journalist and investment banker, he is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, and has been interviewed by CNN, ABC, FOX, The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail and Oprah & Friends.

Reviews

[Rishabh Srivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a startup founder who has done a lot of enterprise sales, and was excited about this book. But it was underwhelming.

Very repetitive, but the main takeaways were:

1. Wait as long as you can before entering negotiations, and use the time before you enter negotiations to a) get your positioning absolutely right, and b) wait until your product/business have improved

2. Focus more on how you can help your customers grow more than how you can help them save costs

3. Be overzealous with your information – don’t reveal more than you have to about how your operations work

4. Research as much as you can before negotiating. Both from the internet, from external sources who have worked with your quarry before, and from employees currently working there

5. Complete a series of small deals before negotiating with giants. This will help you be less dependent on the giant and will strengthen your negotiating position, as well as your ability to walk away if a deal doesn’t pan out

6. Always be willing to walk away from deals – and make that clear to your negotiating partners

7. (Only applicable for exclusive contracts) Always have more than one company bidding for your services – and stall for time when negotiating with the first company

8. Make sure you’re able to capture most of the value you’re creating for your customer. Do this by showing how your solution is depth-first, and better than everything else in your niche, by showcasing your dominance in an industry or geographical niche, and by showcasing its potential for growth (and not just focusing on current profitability)

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too shabby.  Johnston has written a vibrant yet informative how-to.  I'll be better equipped next time I square off against a "giant" in negotiation.  At my height, that's pretty much everyone.  


Couple notes:

-Blackmail?  LOL

-Stand Tall

-Ignore the rules

-Sacrifice your queen

-Form coalitions.  Grow the size of your team 

-Plan to walk away

-Stick to your word.  Even if they're ultimatums.  

-Say yes when you mean no.  Stall.

-Give choices

-Uncover meaning

[James Goswell · Rating 1 out of 5]

2019: 20

[Dmitri Pavlov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is such an interesting mix of great stories with throughout review of practical lesson derived from each and every story. Great read. Thank you!

4 stars because it is a bit too long, and at the end it becoming a bit monotone. Should be as in the story of The Knife Guy : “..this performer varied his tone and pace, always speaking so we could hear him, but pausing for effect….. to keep us on our toes”.

Overall, Great Read, Highly recommending.

[Rami Balkhair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Johnston himself taught me the subject of negotiation at the University of Victoria. He is a super great guy. His strategies are so practical and useful. The book could take you to deal with complex negotiations. The book is well written, in an a high level English. However, it is better to have negotiation-knowledge background in order to best utilize the strategies in the book.

[Stacey Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit of a long read, but I appreciated all of the real-life case studies about people who negotiated with big companies to get what they wanted. A true David and Goliath book.

[Roger Royse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting anecdotes illustrating the points. Good advice for us Davids who regularly meet Goliath in the field