Today´s Book Review: Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss

This is simply the best book on negotiation that I have ever read.  For many folks, negotiating is uncomfortable.  Negotiation, for many of us, signifies confrontation where there must be a winner and loser.  Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, dispels that winner/loser myth in this book.  Instead, he goes into great detail about how negotiation is really a matter of leading the other person in the direction you want them to go.

Importance of Non-Verbals

I loved his focus on the importance of non-verbal communication when it comes to negotiating.  You all have heard the expression that 90% of all communication is non-verbal.  This book gives great examples of how the same is true in the context of negotiation.  The author highlights the importance of rapport-building, which is often a product of non-verbal communication. Things like the pace of your words, smiling, mirroring of body language and strategic silence and listening can all put the other person in a position to like you, open up to you and indicate their true intentions and desires.  

Throwing Logic Out the Window

This book also highlights exceptionally well that negotiation is not about convincing the other person that your logic is correct.  We are emotional persons, and when emotions are involved, as they often can be in negotiations, logic goes out the window.  This is worth keeping in mind.

More Valuable Tips

Some other amazing tips included in this book are to do such things as set deadlines for offers to create a fear of loss, always let the other side make the first offer and negotiate using non-round numbers.  

How much value could this book have to you?

Turning back to real estate, I have used that last tip to my own benefit.  The last property I bought I had decided that I was going to offer $95,000.  After reading this book, I decided to give the “non-round numbers” approach a shot.  I offered $91,612.  I got the house at that price!  The logic of this strategy is that if you give an oddball number like this the other side is more likely to believe that it has some basis to it than if you threw out a round number (say, $100,000).  That $100,000 is more likely to be seen as an opening offer versus a highest and best offer, and it invites a counter because there does not appear to be much thought behind it.  Using this non-round number approach saved me about $3,400 on just one deal in exchange for my $19 purchase on Amazon!  

For BRRRR investors, and really all real estate investors, this book is a must-read.  If you liked this review, make sure to subscribe to our blog to see more reviews like this one. You can also support the site and keep these reviews coming by grabbing your copy of the book at any of the links above!

Ready to negotiate your next deal after reading this? 

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