Negotiation is part and parcel of our daily life. Even the smallest of discussions is negotiation. This is what Dr. Michael Benoliel’s Done Deal is all about: getting to grips with the art of negotiation, how to become a master negotiator.

From the onset, Done Deal sets about to prove that basic strategies for any successful negotiation are the same. From the business world, through politics, law, sports to diplomacy and war, Benoliel offers insightful analysis of the key negotiation strategies as used by whom he calls top 25 of today’s top “Master Negotiators”.

Where for example, did Turner Broadcasting Services owner Ted Turner go wrong in his bid to acquire MGM/AU way far above its value, despite some glaring indicators that the film giant was not a good partner in plan to survive the broadcasting industry? On the other hand, how did famous American sports agent Jeff Moorad add millions of dollars to a player’s salary? Done Deal has all the answers.

Had Turner, unlike Moorad violated the rule of 5 Ps: Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance?
Benoliel blends negotiation theory and practice through use of accounts from the successes and failures of the Master Negotiators. And whom will you find among these master negotiators?

Shimon Peres, the chief negotiator in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, former US senator Bill Bradley, Former US Presidential candidate Robert Dole, Labour Unionist Richard Trumka, former Palestinian negotiator Sa’eb Ekarat and businessman Hassan Bassajjabalaba. Every field is represented.

It is this ‘mixture’ that makes Benoliel’s Done Deal “come alive”. Founder of the Center for Negotiation, a consulting and training organisation that deals in conflict resolution and negotiation, the author easily attempts to prove that that every decision in life is about negotiation.

He details each of the ‘ top ten skills’ paramount in whatever negotiation, taking the reader to the depths of how the Master Negotiators applied each, either consciously or otherwise.

Would you for instance take off time to think about the interests of the person, group or company you are negotiating with? Inexperienced negotiators will not care. He quotes Former US Secretary of State James Blake that: “Many negotiators are self-centered. They are so preoccupied with what they need and want, they pay less attention to what the other side wants and needs.”

But master negotiators will seek to know the position, interests, behaviour and personality of their counterpart, what the author terms “negotiating from both sides of the table.”
At the start of every chapter, he tickles the reader’s thinking by use of quotations from eminent personalities, making you not just read, but think as you devour the pages.

He highlights the main pointers at the end of every chapter, thereby making the thinking even easier. In all negotiations, each side looks to come out the winner thereby insisting on trying to make the other side the loser. Such a no-compromise negotiation will collapse, so how do you bring out a win-win situation?

Benoliel brings this to light quoting Shimon Peres, a man who has been involved in various Middle East negotiations. “If you want to win, go to war. Negotiations are about finding an accommodation that both sides can live with.”

If the preceding chapters do not get you to getting the best out of a negotiation, the very last chapter should get you there. “Become a Master Negotiator” gives you the answer. How do you build relationships, master the substance and manage the process? With well-crafted principles of master negotiation, the last chapter does the trick.

Done Deal is a plainly written, elaborate text. However, it is not for the flip-through reader. Rather, it is for the critical reader; further underlining Benoliel’s argument that the art of negotiation is a field management trainers ought to look into. Nevertheless Benoliel makes a case why every professional, from businessmen to managers and politicians should take time off to turn the pages of this brilliantly written book.