n sales, you don't have a choice as to whether you negotiate. Your only choice is whether you do it well or poorly. And that depends to a great degree on your understanding of power. People have very different views of power - what it represents, where it comes from, how it affects them. Many people see power as a negative term, something to be avoided. Without power, however, many of the things we enjoy in life simply wouldn't exist. We wouldn't have museums or symphonies or universities. We wouldn't have fine architecture or companies that produce products or employ us.

Without power, nothing would happen, because power is simply the ability to get things done. Power makes things happen.

The best way to understand power is to identify its sources. By knowing where power comes from, you can increase your power and protect yourself from the negative influences of other people's power. These are the seven essential sources. 1. Official Position Power The first source of power is called Official Position power. You'll hear this referred to as legitimate or title power. Most of us have an official position that brings with it a level of power. If you have a title, use it. Put it on your business card. Put it on your door. Have yourself introduced with it.

Authors and those with advanced degrees carry this kind of power. We've all seen people who have used their position to great advantage. Don't beat people up with it, but understand that people respect official position.

Here's the other side to that coin: Don't be overly influenced by other people's official position. Understand that, for the most part, they're pretty meaningless. It's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that people with official positions are smarter than you, that they have superior skills or special powers. Along the way, some people may try to intimidate you with their position or their degrees and impress you with their connections. But underneath all that show and glitz, the judgment and intelligence of the top dogs are very much like yours. 2. The Power of Knowledge The next source of power in sales negotiations is Knowledge. We've all heard for years that knowledge is power. That's true.

However, there are two parts to knowledge: expertise and information. You might say expertise is inner - how well you develop yourself, your skills and your abilities. Information is outer - how much you know about the other person and their situation.

Here's the good news: If you do have expertise, people will know it. Here's the bad news: If you don't have expertise, people will know it. Don't fool yourself into thinking that people don't know or won't find out.

If you're serious about excelling in sales negotiations, consistently work toward increasing your expertise. For example, read books and magazines related to your industry on a regular basis.

The other half of knowledge is information. The more information you know going into a negotiation, the better position you'll be in.

Find out what their needs and wants are. Whom have they dealt with in the past and how did it go? What did they like and dislike about it? Who else was involved? What's the competition doing? Whom else are they talking to? What's their budget? All these factors comprise their situation.

On the personal side, you need to find out everything you can about them. What part of the country did they come from? Where did they go to school? Have they been in the service? Which branch? Do they drink? How much? Are they married? Do they have children? What are their ages? Boys or girls? What are their hobbies? When meeting in someone's office, notice their degrees, family pictures and other memorabilia that indicate what's important to them.

Take a co-worker, consultant or vendor to lunch to find out what Mr. X's hot buttons are. Ask, "What have you learned about him? If you had to do this deal over again, what would you do differently?" Smart negotiating is not always about money. It's about creativity. Determine what would be a "personal win."

Nine out of 10 times, the people you're dealing with have specific needs. They need to look good to their boss, have to accomplish something by a certain time or need an introduction to a third party. The more information you have, the more power you have. If you don't have information on the person and the situation going into a negotiation, you're giving power away.

You can also use the sharing of information to make people feel important - or left out.

I used to work with an executive vice president who understood power and the part that sharing information plays in it. Jeff would stop you coming down the hall, put his arm around you and look around to be sure no one could hear. He'd lower his voice and say, "There'll be an announcement coming out soon, but I wanted you to know before it hit the streets." And in an air of confidentiality, he "let you in" on some special information. You felt great! You felt so important.

You know what's interesting? We all knew he did this with everyone, and it still worked. So, if you want to make someone feel special, give them information. If you want to make someone feel really special, give them confidential information. 3. Preparation Power The next source of power is Preparation. It's been said that 80% of success in negotiation is in the preparation. Being prepared is largely dependent on knowledge. The more prepared and clear you are about what you want, the more power you'll have.

Go in with your best expectations clearly outlined. Before every negotiation, write down your best-case scenario. At the other end, have a worst-case scenario. This is your walk-away point - a point at which the deal just won't work. If you don't have a walk-away point, you're set up for disaster. 4. The Power of Options That brings us to an important source of power: Options. Smart negotiators know that there is always another deal. There is not a deal you have to make. There is nothing you "can't live without." The bottom line is, being well prepared can give you something you should never leave home without: options. Options give you walk-away power. Never enter a negotiation without options. When you pass the point that you can walk away from a deal, you're in trouble. 5. The Power of Charisma Charisma is the next source of power when negotiating deals. Make no mistake about it - nothing takes the place of simply being the kind of person whom people want to do business with. There's a reason why you've always heard, "People do business with people they like." Because it's true.

I was designing a negotiation-training program recently for the customer-service department of a large telecommunications company. These people had a great deal of latitude to make adjustments for business customers, sometimes running in excess of $30,000!

In the development stages of the project, when we do our interviews and groundwork to gather information, the customer service reps said that although they had company guidelines concerning adjustment situations, the amount of the settlement they granted was often determined by whether they liked the people! 6. Commitment Power The next source of power is Commitment power. If you have very strong beliefs, strong convictions about the issue you're negotiating, it's obvious to the other person. On the other hand, if you have no real commitment to the issues - if you're just doing a job, or going through the motions - you're very vulnerable.

Someone selling a product or service that they believe is overpriced, for example, will never perform to their potential. They have no commitment. These are the people who don't hang tough, who cave in during the closing and leave the company's profits on the table. Your personal commitment to issues being negotiated gives you power. 7. Self-concept Power The next source of power is closely linked to commitment. It's your Self-concept. The way you see yourself plays a vital role in negotiation. If you see yourself as a dealmaker, the kind of person who enjoys getting in the ring and mixing it up, that's a tremendous plus. On the other hand, if the confrontational side of business bothers you, life is telling you something.

If you travel in the Caribbean or Mexico or do business in the straw markets of the world, where everything is done with barter and there's a lot of haggling, do you enjoy that or does it make you uncomfortable? This is a key issue, and it has nothing to do with negotiating skills.

This is in part because your negotiating self-image is directly tied to your expectations, and those affect the goals you set in negotiation. What you expect has a great impact on what you accomplish. Your expectations become your aspiration level, and no one can produce your aspirations for you.

Professional golfers will tell you that skill has very little to do with who gets the check at the end of the tournament. They all have the skills, or they wouldn't be on the tour. It's the person who gets their mental game together that will win the day.

So when you go into a negotiating situation, give yourself a mental check to see how firmly you are committed to these issues and how well they are coming out in this negotiation. And, second, how is your self-concept? Do you feel like a dealmaker? If you don't, it's costing you power. 8. Time Power The final factor that influences power is Time. Time causes pressure and pressure causes mistakes. When you find yourself pressured for time, you're vulnerable in two ways. First, you have fewer options. If you have time restrictions or deadlines, it limits the possibilities open to you. You don't have time to think, be creative or come up with synergistic alternatives. Second, time pressure leads to fuzzy thinking and mistakes.

If you find yourself in a negotiation where the other side has time restrictions or deadlines, that can give immense power to you. Timing is critical on both sides of every deal. From your perspective, when you find yourself pressed for time, back off! You need to look at everything about a deal and not be pressured into a rash, hasty decision.

We all have much more power than we may realize. In business, there aren't any victims. There are only volunteers. Poor negotiators give power away. Good negotiators don't miss a trick to enhance their power. Every time you use your official position, further develop your own expertise, or show commitment to the value and integrity of issues that you're negotiating, you're gathering power. Find new ways each day to be a more powerful negotiator.