YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING

A curious combination of the constructive and the slick. Like Tessa Albert Warschaw (Winning by Negotiation, p. 1283), professional negotiator Herb Cohen favors the bargaining style that has come to be known as ""win-win"": the idea is to defuse the adversary by making him an ally (via ""genuine relationships based upon trust,"" where both sides listen empathically and attempt to meet each other's unspoken needs). But this essentially healthy viewpoint is counterbalanced by some of the manipulative tactics that Cohen advises. The negotiator is urged, for example, to use the illusion of power--such as the other's perception that you can help or hurt him (or her) in some way--as ""muscle"" in the relationship. And there is little of the ""ally"" approach in allowing one's opponent to invest a great deal of time in, say, selling you a suit, just to increase his (or her) likelihood to grant eventual concessions. Cohen tells some amusing stories--including the Soviets' cunning negotiation with US networks apropos of televising the ill-fated Moscow Olympics--and his tips are flawlessly organized; but the Warschaw book offers a more consistent and comprehensive approach.