The questions should make it look like you’re asking for help.

Ex: You need new clothes.

Instead of telling the salesclerk what you “need”, you can describe what you’re looking for and ask for suggestions.

Then, once you’ve picked out what you want, instead of hitting them with a hard offer (and falling into confrontation), you can just say the price is a bit more tham you budgeted and ask for help with one of the greatest-of-all-time calibrated questions: “How am I supposed to do that?”

The critical part of this approach is that you really are asking for help and your delivery must convey that.

With this negotiation scheme, instead of bullying the clerk, you’re asking for their advice and giving them the illusion of control.

–Never split the difference, p.151