Of all the workshops I conduct, my favorite is negotiation.  Today I’ll tell you why, and give you some useful tips to save time and money in your personal life.

We’ll start with this simple premise.  When you study negotiation, there are generally three areas of focus, and I use the acronym TIP to help people remember them:  time, information and power.  Let’s look at all three.

Any time you’re in a negotiation and you have all the time in the world, you’re in the better position.  Example:  you have to sell your house to relocate, having already bought a house in the new location.  Home buyers have all the time in the world to look for a house, but you’re in a hurry as you’re soon to be squeezed for cash.  You’re in the weaker position.

Years ago, American auto-makers and other companies would travel to Japan to negotiate…