Never Make the First Offer

Donald Dell is a legend in the sports agent business. He's been at it for almost forty years, with a record of successful deals that puts him in a league of his own.

His unique guide to negotiating includes examples from Dell's dealings with some of the biggest names in sports, stars like Michael Jordon, Jimmy Connors, Andy Roddick, and Patrick Ewing. The audiobook brings the inner workings of the negotiating room to life, from the intense all-night wrangling sessions to the devious battles of wits. There's plenty of backstabbing, but also moments of glory earned by a brilliant negotiator at the top of his game.

Dell covers the various aspects of negotiations, in sports and in a more general context, such as understanding what's important, playing to your audience, gaining leverage and getting agreement. This includes such "life skills" as gaining trust, building relationships, and getting in touch with your "inner competitor." They also provide in-depth prescriptive instruction in sports agentry, explaining such specifics as the standard player agreement, licensing agreements, and stadium naming rights contracts.

Dell also shares his eight (sort of) absolute laws of negotiating, including:

* Never make the first offer: The more information you can get from the other side before you name a number, the better your position.

* Always be prepared to walk away: that gives you leverage. Conversely, if the other party senses you're negotiating from fear, you are immediately at a big disadvantage.

* In every negotiation there is a moment of truth: The key is to position your offer so that when it gets to that point, it's hard for them to say no.