#75: How to Negotiate When Nice Stops Working
The StoryBrand Podcast
StoryBrand.com
4.7 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most people walk into a negotiation hoping reason will win. Then the other side throws a punch, and suddenly your "win-win" mindset starts costing you money, leverage, and sleep. Whether you're dealing with a tough client, a legal threat, or a conflict that got personal fast, you need to know what kind of negotiation you're actually in. So how do you protect the relationship without getting steamrolled?
In this episode, host Donald Miller sits down with John Lowry, negotiation expert and author of Negotiation Made Simple, to talk about what to do when nice stops working. John explains how to spot competitive negotiators, use power without letting your ego drive, and shift a stuck conversation toward a smarter outcome. You'll learn when to accommodate, when to compete, and when to hit pause before the whole thing blows up. Listen in to learn the skills to turn a tense negotiation into a better result.
Buy "Negotiation Made Simple" here: https://www.amazon.com/Negotiation-Made-Simple-Relationships-Delivering/dp/1400336325
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is very counterintuitive, |
| 0:01.8 | that sometimes like your best competitive results |
| 0:06.0 | actually come through cooperation. |
| 0:08.8 | Yeah. |
| 0:09.8 | They don't always come through competition. |
| 0:12.2 | That's the mistake that other people make on the other side. |
| 0:15.5 | They're a hammer and everything they see in the world is a nail. |
| 0:19.3 | Yeah. |
| 0:19.5 | And you're kind of like, no, no, no, no, no, that's not the way to approach it either. |
| 0:22.7 | Because you're going to go destroying relationships. |
| 0:25.0 | You're going to go busting deals. |
| 0:26.4 | You're going to run through clients that you didn't need to just because that's your approach. |
| 0:31.0 | The magic of it is the person who is savvy enough, is educated enough to be able to almost in like matrix-like fashion, |
| 0:42.3 | rise above the table that they're sitting at and saying, okay, is what we're doing making any |
| 0:47.3 | sense? Are we working towards the deal that we ultimately want to work that's going to advance my |
| 0:51.9 | business? Or do I need to go in a different direction |
| 0:54.5 | with this? If you've ever struggled to explain what your business does or you felt like |
| 1:00.6 | your marketing should be converting better, then join us for Storybrand Your Business Live. It's a two-day |
| 1:05.8 | workshop here in Nashville. It's happening September 1st through 2nd, where Donald Miller himself |
| 1:10.9 | will teach you how to build clear messaging that works. And at the event, you'll also get |
| 1:16.7 | direct feedback from Storybrand certified guides. So your message finally connects with customers. |
| 1:22.7 | All of this year's workshops have sold out. So don't miss your chance. Register for the |
... |
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