If you're going to buy one book on negotiation this year, make it this one.

Most price negotiations begin with a lie. Each side asks for more than it expects to get, both sides know it, and the rest is a slow shuffle of offers, counteroffers, and "that's the best I can do." Todd Caponi's book Four Levers Negotiating asks a simple question: what happens when one side stops playing that game?

This week on S4N, Gene digs into Caponi's system. Caponi wrote his framework for B2B sellers up against corporate procurement, and he's modest about how far it reaches. Gene thinks he's selling it short. As he walks through one of the book's stories, about a frustrated buyer who insists on monthly billing because that's how everyone does it, he shows that Caponi's approach works well beyond the sales call. The moves that close the deal are the same ones great negotiators have always relied on, from FBI hostage negotiators to diplomats. They just happen in a different room.

You've been on both sides of this. The counterpart who's venting but sounds like they're attacking. The "policy" that turns out to be habit. The discount you gave away before you'd thought it through. Being straight about how your price is built doesn't weaken your position. It may be the strongest position you have.

A special thank you to our friend Professor Jeff Hoyle of Central Michigan University for putting this book in Gene's hands.

Remember: negotiation is life.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Four Levers Negotiating: The Simple, Counterintuitive Way to Higher Deal Values and Lasting Trust by Todd Caponi (Matt Holt Books, 2026)
• Jeffrey Z. Rubin, "Negotiation: An Introduction to Some Issues and Themes," American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 27, No. 2 (1983)
• Station 4 Negotiation Episode #9 – Brains Over Brawn: When Getting Frustrated Gets You Nowhere (May 21, 2024)
• Gene's email: gene@station4negotiation.com