The world is full of self-proclaimed experts who promise to make you a master negotiator in seven easy steps. They write books. They sell online courses. They guarantee you’ll be ‘unbeatable’ – for the low, low price of $99 payable in crypto.
I’m not a master negotiator. But I understand one thing: the first number on the table is rarely the real number.
When I’m buying property, the first question I ask isn’t about the kitchen or the roof. It’s simple: how long has it been sitting there?
If it’s been on the market for more than three months, the excitement has drained away. The viewings have slowed. The owner has quietly begun adjusting to disappointment. If the asking price is $300,000, they expect someone to offer $270,000 and they’re hoping to land at $285,000.
That’s when I come in at $220,000.
It’s deliberately uncomfortable. Sometimes they tell me to get lost. Fine. Sometimes they recoil, rethink, recalibrate and return with $280,000. I nudge up slightly, perhaps to $230,000, and leave it there.
And, here’s the crucial rule: you must be willing to walk away.
If you’re not prepared to lose the deal, you’ve already lost the negotiation.
You don’t make your profit when you sell. You make it when you buy.
Sound familiar? It should.
Donald Trump operates in exactly this register – open high, shock hard, dominate the headlines. Threaten 100 per cent tariffs. Threaten 150pc. Float the idea of taking Greenland ‘by force if necessary’. It sounds outrageous because it’s designed to. The initial position isn’t the destination – it’s the disruption.
The media explodes. Commentators dissect every word. Governments scramble to co-ordinate responses. Markets twitch. And then, after the theatre peaks, the offer softens. The tariff becomes ‘negotiable’. Talks are proposed and suddenly counterparts are accepting deals they might have dismissed outright at the beginning.
That’s anchoring at a geopolitical scale.
Take Greenland. The US already has defence agreements allowing it to station troops and operate military facilities there. It once had 17 bases and closed most of them to save money. So, the argument that ownership is essential for security doesn’t entirely hold water.
But Greenland is rich in oil and rare earth minerals – precisely the materials that underpin modern technology and defence systems, and where China holds significant leverage in global supply chains. Strategic territory plus strategic resources? Now the interest makes sense.
Donald and his clique of grubby billionaires want to dig up Greenland without the pesky Danes getting in the way and that is why they ‘must have it’.
And, here’s the twist: the Greenlanders may be the unexpected winners.
The international spotlight has exposed longstanding tensions in their relationship with Denmark. Copenhagen, suddenly aware that others are circling, has been far more attentive – offering greater investment, support and political focus.
In negotiation, attention is currency.
The lesson? Whether you’re buying a house or reshaping global alliances, the loudest number isn’t the final number. It’s the opening move.
And the person who understands that – and can stomach the discomfort – often walks away with the better deal.
Jackie@JBeedie.com
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