MISTAKE #5: Making The First Offer: Martial artists try not to make the first move when sparring because it immediately reveals their speed and timing to their opponent. Try not to make the first offer anytime you bargain because it limits your options. Even if the price is clearly marked, you can always ask, "Would you take less to sell this today?" If you are a buyer and you make the first offer it sets the lower limit because now you can only raise your price. If you are a seller and you name a price you can only go down from there.

MISTAKE #6: Being Too Nice: If a martial artist has to make the first move he is likely to be pretty aggressive in hopes of scoring a few early points. If you must make the first offer, make it a low one if you're buying and high if you're selling for the reason stated above. It sets the lower or upper limit and reduces your options. Being aggressive with your first offer leaves room for negotiating. Don't worry about being nice as the other party can always say, "no." You never want the other party to agree to your first offer because that leads to the next mistake.

MISTAKE #7: Being Too Eager: A martial artist always starts a contest by testing his opponent. Take your time when bargaining. In America "time is money" but in other countries it is used for building relationships. There is one word that a black belt negotiator never wants to hear early in the bargaining process - "okay." This means that you paid too much or asked too low a price because you got impatient. Take your time and don't put yourself under any undue pressure. When I was in Japan negotiating a television sponsorship contract, my hosts and I spent two weeks just eating sushi, drinking sake and singing karaoke (badly) but not one word was mentioned about the reason for my visit. It wasn't until we had built a mutual level of trust that the talks began.

MISTAKE #8: Not Doing Your Homework: Most martial arts tournaments are won or lost before they ever begin and it's the same with negotiating. Just like a fighter would never step into the ring without finding out everything he can about his opponent, you should too. If you're buying a car, search the web to find the dealer's invoice, when the new models will be coming in and if there are any bonuses or cut-rate financing available to you. No matter what you are buying or selling you can find out valuable information such as: what's the current demand, the profit margin, and other priceless data.

MISTAKE #9: Not Playing To Win: Martial artists never enter the ring hoping for a tie. Everyone has heard that in negotiating you want to develop "win-win" solutions but, in reality, nobody believes in tying. You don't want your opponent to get the better end of the bargain and neither do they. This is not to say that you try to take advantage but you should always try to get the best deal you can and assume that the other party will do likewise. You don't need to be concerned about fairness because if they agree to your offer they must feel it benefits them as well.

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