Know who's on the other side of the table I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to negotiate a deal and had people make all kinds of wild assumptions about me, my company, and my partners. A lack of research on your part says that you either don't care enough to prepare properly or 3 2 .__________ .Take the time to understand who you're negotiating with - what makes them tick, what they might want in the deal, why they might want what they want, what's urgent versus important for them. As with sales, the more prepared you are, the more effective you'll be.