Detailed planning and preparation are critical for a satisfying process and achieving one’s goals in a negotiation.  A general rule for preparing is to spend about five times longer in the planning stage then one thinks the actual negotiation will take.  Why can’t negotiators just “fly by the seat of their pants?”  The more negotiators know about themselves and what they want, and the more they know about the others in the negotiation and their values, needs, constraints, interests and style, the more they can control the process of the negotiation and steer the negotiation toward an outcome that is mutually satisfying (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993).   With careful planning, there should be few surprises and negotiators can be confident about their offers and actions.  Key concepts that every strategic negotiator should prepare are:  resistance point, aspiration point, BATNA (aka Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement), issues and interests, and objective criteria. 

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