Over the next few weeks I will be posting my thoughts from sessions that I attended at the Information Technology Alliance’s Fall Collaborative (<—I love that word) held in Palm Springs.

In the first session entitled Negotiating: The critical skill for success in a soft economy, Jack Kaine delivered an excellent presentation including some of the following good thoughts:

• Bargaining is about who is right; negotiation is about what is right.
• Win-win is about mutual gain, which is not to be confused with equal gain.
• Bargaining presupposes a zero-sum game like poker; negotiation presupposes the ability to grow the pot beyond what is at the table.
• The sooner you quote price the lower it will be and be proud of your pricing!
• When you lower your price unilaterally you are saying you are a commodity.
• Do not bargain with yourself! Discounting indicates a lack of self-esteem.
• Saying something is "fair and reasonable" is a subtle way of calling the other party, "unfair and unreasonable."