Step 7:  Negotiating Skills

More than 90 percent of all profit-driven patentable inventions, from high-tech to the simple, become real products as a result of negotiation. That makes good bargaining skills one of your most important assets when it comes time to make the best possible deal for yourself. Like most things, negotiation has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In the beginning phase, the parties seek information about each other's positions in order to identify the issues that separate them. Simply put, they test the waters. In the middle phase of a negotiation, both sides make preliminary offers, swap concessions, and try to find a plan that satisfies their differences. In the final phase, they confirm what they've gained in their negotiations, draft final royalty agreements, and do away with any remaining deadlocks. If you think this process sounds like too much for you to handle, you're wrong. Mastering the art of negotiation does take some time, but it can be learned with practice.