We are all constantly negotiating. When we pick a movie to watch with our friends, when we decide where to meet for lunch, when we promise a toddler an ice cream cone if they will Just. Stop. Crying. We do it all the time, without even thinking about it. But when we negotiate about money, tensions rise.
Some people see all negotiating as distributive bargaining, a zero-sum game where the parties haggle over a finite asset. In that kind of negotiation, everything you get means less for me. Paying more for your show means less money left in my pocket. Look at it like this—one party has a budget and the other party has a need (the least that party will take to do the job). As long as there is overlap between the budget and the need, there is a “Zone of Agreement,” where we can strike a deal. For example, if my bottom line for a show is $300 (to make up a number), and your maximum budget is $600, our Zone of Agreement is between $300 and $600. We can make a deal that satisfies both of us anywhere in that range. But I want the highest possible number in that range, and you want the lowest possible number.