Start With No: Jim Camp’s Negotiating Tools That the Pros Don’t Want You to Know
"The negotiating tools that the pros don’t want you to know." Negotiation deserves serious study, and in Start with No (De entrada, diga no in Spanish) Jim Camp describes his own method for successful negotiations. A good deal can mean triumph for a company, and deals are made every day.
Author: Jim Camp (1946–2016), negotiation coach
Title: Start with No: The Negotiating Tools That the Pros Don’t Want You to Know (2002)
Format: English Kindle edition, 287 pages
Scope: Negotiation
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/B003EY7JEE (ASIN B003EY7JEE)
The Reviewer’s Notes
The reviewer summed up the method in ten points: understand the other side’s pain; assume nothing; keep it simple; set an agenda; don’t waste time; know your money budget; know your emotional budget; trade concessions carefully; do your research; and ask questions.
People, Not Machines
Remember that you are dealing with ordinary people, and nobody is perfect. Avoid unprofitable goals. Camp also recommends keeping a daily log to review your work. Money and power are not what counts.
Core Principles
• Have a clear mission or purpose.
• Negotiation never ends.
• Winning is not everything; what matters is the will to prepare to win.
• You cannot convince your opponent; they must reach their own decision.
Against Win-Win
The book’s starting point is a direct challenge to one of the most popular ideas in business: that negotiators should always look for a "win-win" solution. Camp argues that this mindset makes people too eager to please, ready to make concessions just to close a deal, and that experienced negotiators on the other side know how to exploit it. Instead of trying to reach "yes" as quickly as possible, he suggests inviting the other side to say "no", which takes the pressure off, encourages honesty and gives both parties the freedom to explore what they really want.
Mission and Purpose
At the heart of Camp’s system is the idea of a clear mission and purpose, set in the world of the other party: not "I want to sell this product" but a description of the problem you can solve for them. From that mission come the decisions about what to say, what to ask and when to walk away. Camp insists that negotiators can control only their own behaviour and activity, not the outcome, and that focusing on results breeds anxiety and poor decisions.
The Power of Questions
Much of the book deals with questions. Camp prefers open questions beginning with words such as "what" and "how", which invite the other side to talk, reveal their concerns and arrive at their own conclusions. He also warns against talking too much: in his view, the negotiator who presents, explains and argues is usually losing ground, while the one who listens and asks is gathering what he needs.
Jim Camp
Jim Camp (1946–2016) was an American negotiation coach whose company trained teams in many industries. Start with No, published in 2002, was his first book; he followed it with No: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home (2007).
Related Reading
For a contrasting view, read Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury, the classic text of "principled" win-win negotiation that Camp argues against. Comparing the two is an excellent way to sharpen your own approach.
Who Will Find It Useful
Salespeople, buyers, managers and anyone who dreads negotiating will find concrete techniques they can try in their very next meeting.
Practice makes the difference.
Why Read It
Camp’s counter-intuitive idea, that inviting a "no" frees both sides to talk honestly, rather than chasing a quick "win-win", has made this a favourite among salespeople and managers.
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