The Only Negotiating Guide You’ll Ever Need

This may seem to veer a little outside the types of book reviews I usually do (aka cookbooks <3), but it caught my eye the other day because I’ve been dealing with some semi-difficult/demanding patients lately, and figured some tips wouldn’t hurt. (Especially since I’ve had to start battling insurance companies to approve medications/imaging for my patients. >_> )

The Only Negotiating Guide You’ll Ever Need, Revised and Updated: 101 Ways to Win Every Time in Any Situation

By Peter B. Stark + Jane Flaherty

Genre: Business & Economics
Pages: 288

The Only Negotiating Guide You’ll Ever Need starts off with a quiz to help you determine how successful of a negotiator you currently are (or aren’t) and shares some key tips for creating a win-win outcome:

1. Avoid narrowing the negotiation down to one issue.
2. Realize that your counterpart doesn’t have the same wants/needs as you do.
3. Don’t assume that you know your counterpart’s needs.

These are tips that I’ve actually subtly been taught in medical school as well–there are 3 decision-making styles we go by depending on the patient and the situation–patriarchal (the doctor makes the decision), informative (the doctor offers information but depends on the patient to make the decision) and the model we’ve been moving toward over the last decade or so–shared decision-making (the doctor + patient collaborate on making decisions).

This book gives great tips and advice regarding how to approach different situations, how to ask the right questions and listen attentively, build trust, and also goes into discussing nonverbal behavior, which is super important in any type of communication (and was super vital when I did my Horses For Healers course + throughout college)!

There’s a quiz to figure out your negotiating style (I’m a cross between Amiable vs. Analytical), how to determine your counterpart’s style + how to work with them. The Only Negotiating Guide You’ll Ever Need also includes chapters on electronic negotiations, how to ask for a raise, how to bargain (a talent I work on every time I go overseas…), and shares a bunch of different tried-and-true tactics with examples and a way to counter it.

Communication is a significant aspect to any type of relationship–be it with family, friends, significant others, coworkers, clients, etc. So many things in life require some kind of negotiation, or at least an understanding on both sides–this book does a great job of providing different strategies to work with a variety of situations and people, not just in the work setting, but in everyday life!

Check out my other book reviews!

• How do you usually go about negotiating with others?
• If you have kids, what’s your success rate in negotiating with them? No kids on my end (thankfully), but I have a number of pediatric patients and sometimes end up having to negotiate with both them and their parents in regards to their medical care.