If They Won’t Bend, Break Them!
Geoffrey Michael
Cannon Communications (2024)
ISBN: 979-8991032001
Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Reader Views (05/2025)
If They Won’t Bend, Break Them!: Tips, Tactics and Strategies You Need to Negotiate Like a Pro by Geoffrey Michael is a comprehensive, fascinating deep dive into the world of negotiating. Whether for business or personal reasons, the author explains that we often negotiate with others daily, and for various reasons. For example, you may negotiate with a car dealership for the best value. Or you may want your teenagers to clean the garage, but they say only for a price. Whatever the negotiation, this book and this author bring you inside information and strategies to get the best deal, and that deal isn’t always about money. It’s about getting what you want out of the deal.
The author is beyond qualified to write this book, bringing decades of experience and success in the business and finance sectors to the reader and aspiring negotiator. Once a few chapters in, you’ll see why you won’t want to begin another deal without it. The chapters are organized in easy-to-find subject headings like preparation, knowing when to make a counteroffer, and being prepared to say no and walk away if you need to. The reading is engaging and friendly, not laden with technical jargon or encyclopedic facts and figures. It’s packed with practical information you can put to use today. It’s the kind of valuable information that flows freely from a person who knows their subject inside and out. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you know you should negotiate for a better deal but aren’t sure what to say or how to go about it, I urge you to read this book and keep it within reach.
One of my favorite takeaways is that you don’t have to change who you are to be a good negotiator, but you do have to be strategic and stay one step ahead of whoever you’re negotiating with. You can still be friendly, still be sincere, and still be honest, but get what you think you deserve in a deal by being strong and uncompromising. This is a powerful message in a world where we are hesitant to step on another’s toes. On a personal note, I wish I’d read this book before I bought my first new car and my first house. Geoffrey Michael’s If They Won’t Bend, Break Them!: Tips, Tactics and Strategies You Need to Negotiate Like a Pro offers many negotiation strategies and personal stories that somehow feel like life lessons. Learn from them.