Never Make the First Offer

Business and negotiating tactics from a master sports agent

Donald Dell is a legend in professional sports. As one of the first agents to represent athletes, he's been negotiating mega-deals for almost forty years with a hugely successful record on behalf of stars like Arthur Ashe, Michael Jordan, Jimmy Connors, Patrick Ewing, Stan Smith, and Boomer Esiason.

Now Dell shares behind-the-scenes stories of his dealings with some of the most powerful sports owners and executives. He brings the inner workings of the negotiating room to life and offers lessons that readers can apply to their own tough situations. A sample:

• Never make the first offer: You're not seeking an offer at all; you are seeking information.
• Business is emotional: If you are less than genuine people will pick up on it, which is much worse than losing your temper every now and then.
• Know your audience: I finally figured out the key to Jimmy Connors-play to his stubbornness. Don't force Jimmy to do something and he just might do it.
• Decide what's important: Something extremely important to the other side may be trivial to you, in which case you can gain leverage by giving it to them.