One of the reasons that you should start all negotiations off in a cooperative, friendly way, is you get the other side to invest time and energy In this process. Even if their intentions are not the best, they see you as an easy mark, that maybe they could victimize. They still have invested, and that investment accrues to your benefit. Because once people invest, It's hard for them to divest. As they often say, rats and human beings have this in common. The more energy expended in pursuit of a particular goal, the more desirable that goal becomes. For example, why does the tactic known as the nibble work? You all know what the nibble is, let me illustrate it for you. You go into an exclusive mens shop to buy a suit. You try on seven suits, the salesman has it about up to here with you, he's exasperated with you. He thinks you'll never buy a suit, and finally you say, I'll take this one, the real expensive one, the suit for $1500. Salesman breathes a sigh of relief. He's thrilled, he's thinking of his commission. They take you into that little room in the rear, where you meet the tailor. This is always, for some reason, a short guy from Eastern Europe, who walks around with pins in his mouth, and he has a tape measure around his neck. And he takes you and he puts you on this box. You stand there and you're looking in this three way mirror. And the salesman takes you three inches in on the crotch, okay? And he's chalking you up the rear, and down the sides with that white chalk. You're standing on a box, looking at yourself in a three way mirror. And a salesman is putting in the pins over here, taking you in. And suddenly, you turn to the salesman and you say, and what kind of tie will you be throwing in free? The salesman stops writing the sales slip. The guy on the floor shoving in the pins doesn't know whether to put in another pin. He let's go of the crotch. This is what we refer to as the nibble. By the way, can you get that tie? You certainly can. How about a shirt as well? Now, what I'm interested in, is why that works. It works because of the investment that the salesperson has put into the situation. And what I'm saying is investment is very important, and so if you start your negotiations in a collaborative, cooperative way, regardless of what the intention of the other side is, they invest. And that investment accrues to your benefit. >> People will try the nibble. What do you do in response, so you don't get nickel and dimed, and nibbled to death? >> Well obviously, those who are watching the film, sometimes I make a film and the one thing they get out of it is they can get free ties or shirts. So how do you avoid getting sucked in by it? You recognize, first of all, what it is. I just got nibbled. Then you say to the party, who nibbled you. You say, hey, I love what you just did. Could you do that again? I want to learn this myself. And you treat it like it's a joke. And usually what people do is they make a deal with you, a substantial deal. And after the deal is made they say, can you throw this in? And you're afraid it will spoil the deal. But treat it like it's a joke, like it's a tactic. Ask them how they did it and ask them for some tips, cuz you'd like to try this yourself. That's how you avoid it.