Negotiate Like a Five Year Old

I have two little ones at home; a five year old son, and a 19 month old daughter.  Dinner time at my house is usually a battle of the wills.  I like to think I win most of the time, but my son would convince you otherwise.  Last night we had baked chicken, cheesy rice and steamed veggies for dinner. All things my son has had before in one form or another and enjoyed.  Earlier in the day I made a fresh batch of double chocolate brownies and as my son sat down at the dinner table I could see the wheels in his head start turning as his eyes glanced back and forth between his plate and the brownies over on the counter.  He took a few bites and then leaned over closer to me and said "I love you to the moon and back."

My first and most obvious reaction was "awe, I have the sweetest son ever." Then, the Mom of a 5 year old woke up and realized he wanted something.  He then asked me how much of his food he had to eat to get a brownie.  Tricky question - if I understate, he will only eat what he is told.  If I overstate, then we launch into the whining and complaining that usually lasts for the remainder of dinner.  So, I gave him a good middle amount.  He decided to eat just enough more than that to impress me, and he got his brownie.  Mind you, they were made for a dinner party at a friends house and he was not going to get one at all.  Well played!

Having children has taught me a lot of things like patience, understanding and .... patience.  But I think there are some great lessons that can be learned from a five year old on how to negotiate and get what you want.  These can be applied to everything including when you are making large purchases, working with vendors or even signing a lease.

1.  Butter Them Up.
You certainly don't have to tell them you love them to the moon and back, but a bit of kindness goes a long way.  I am always amazed at my place of work right now, the people that ask for the world and are completely rude about it.  I would probably negotiate a lot more with them if we had some sort of report going, but when you start off demanding, not much is going to get accomplished.  This holds true the other way also.  People buy things from people they like.  So that pushy, annoying and sometimes creepy sales person that follows up WAY too often is less likely to get the sale from me.

2.  You Never Know Until You Ask.
I have been amazed at some of the things people ask for and even more amazed at some of the things we have agreed to do and pulled off.  But, you never know until you ask and the worst thing they can do is say no.

3.  Know When to Stop.
An art form a lot of people need to work on, including my son...and used car salesmen.  There is a fine line between negotiating for a good deal and taking advantage.  Learn to understand when you are getting a good deal and be happy with that.  As a sales person myself there have been times when I have said no to something I knew we could probably do, but because of how this person was, I knew if I said yes to one thing, the entire process would be a negotiation.   Keep in mind these are businesses you are dealing with, who are in business to make a profit just like you!

-Happy Negotiating!
Kristen