Start with No offers a contrarian, counterintuitive system for negotiating any kind of deal in any kind of situation—the purchase of a new house, a multimillion-dollar business deal, or where to take the kids for dinner.

Think a win-win solution is the best way to make the deal? Think again.

For years now, win-win has been the paradigm for business negotiation. But today, win-win is just the seductive mantra used by the toughest negotiators to get the other side to compromise unnecessarily, early, and often. Win-win negotiations play to your emotions and take advantage of your instinct and desire to make the deal.

Start with No introduces a system of decision-based negotiation that teaches you how to understand and control these emotions. It teaches you how to ignore the siren call of the final result, which you can’t really control, and how to focus instead on the activities and behavior that you can and must control in order to successfully negotiate with the pros.

The best negotiators:
* aren’t interested in “yes”—they prefer “no”
* never, ever rush to close, but always let the other side feel comfortable and secure
* are never needy; they take advantage of the other party’s neediness
* create a “blank slate” to ensure they ask questions and listen to the answers, to make sure they have no assumptions and expectations
* always have a mission and purpose that guides their decisions
* don’t send so much as an e-mail without an agenda for what they want to accomplish
* know the four “budgets” for themselves and for the other side: time, energy, money, and emotion
* never waste time with people who don’t really make the decision

Start with No is full of dozens of business as well as personal stories illustrating each point of the system. It will change your life as a negotiator. If you put to good use the principles and practices revealed here, you will become an immeasurably better negotiator. “Jim Camp offers easy-to-apply strategies to help make you a more effective negotiator. You’ll learn techniques that you can use immediately to improve your negotiating skills by reading this book.” —Joe Mansueto, Chairman, Morningstar Mutual Funds

“This book is an amazing read and right on target.” —John Kispert, Chief Financial Officer, KLA-Tencor corporation

“Jim Camp’s negotiating system is a powerful set of disciplines and tools that helped our salespeople function in our customers’ world—which ultimately led to a better negotiating process with our customers. Start with No describes his approach in detail and is recommended reading for our entire staff.” —Scott Sturm, vice president of Sales, Entegris Corporation

“Jim Camp’s book is a sophisticated course in applied psychology that shows how you can change your behavior so you can sell your ideas, especially in sales situations and other negotiations. The most effective executives will find the results astonishing.” —Bob Boehlke, Member, Board of Directors, DuPont Corporation