"Eric's good at revealing blind spots -- in your communication, in your understanding of others' issues and problems. He teaches you how to remain calm enough to see what games the other parties are playing, whether or not they themselves are aware of it. Most people think of negotiation as a way to win, and they almost always define winning in terms of the other side losing. Few people define negotiation the way Eric does -- as a dynamic."

"Eric is a good teacher of negotiation because he uses his own techniques to find out what the true interests and needs of his students are."

"I wanted to be able to do the kind of negotiating that makes everyone involved feel like we're a group of friends agreeing on something together," he explains. "It was particularly helpful for me to especially when the other side is not inclined or willing to disclose their interests or their frame of reference."


"I used to run my company from a completely functional standpoint -- sort of the way a doctor treats a patient: are my employees happy? Are they getting enough benefits? Are they challenged in their jobs? After I applied some of his techniques to the way I manage my own company, I realized there's an entire spectrum of other issues I had not been aware of. So I changed my management style. I began to spend ten minutes or so with my employees each time they came to talk to me about a problem. I talked to them about their personal connection with the company, their needs and desires, their opinions."

"For success in negotiation, one needs experience, a willingness to learn, good luck and someone like Eric to point the way through the darker areas."

"As elementary as this might seem, people are either unaware that what they're doing is negotiating, or they see it as a negative activity, like a fight they have to win to get what they want. Eric sees negotiation differently -- he sees it as communication. That's what's different about his techniques, and that's why he's successful at making people feel more comfortable and secure with their negotiation skills. He makes you see how you operate, what your personal strengths and weaknesses are, and points out your patterns and habits so that you can see them and work on them yourself."

"What Eric taught me is how important it is to uncover and address everyone's needs from the beginning,"

"Very often people rush through negotiation to get the deal, but if the deal they make doesn't work down the line, they realize it too late. Even if you fail to close the deal, which will make you unhappy in the short run, you'll see, in the long run, that it wasn't the right kind of deal for you."

"Most negotiation courses focus on the different types of negotiation, on techniques [designed] to deflate the other side's interests, on how to win. Eric focuses on communicating and really working with the other parties to reach a goal that satisfies everyone."

"At first I couldn't understand [active listening], and so I asked Eric for something visual, something I could read. Once I saw it printed in black and white, it all clicked. I've used active listening several times in my work I've found it particularly helpful when the other party is frustrated. When someone has a problem that they themselves do not understand, they have a hard time trying to explain it to you and that's where active listening comes in. You help them understand their own problem."

"I became more conscious of certain techniques I had heard a little about before, including active listening."

"felt excited about negotiation. I felt I could walk into any situation and feel confident in it."