» How to get what you want - Jan Janzen Daily

The little house I am currently staying in on the Rio Dulce

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was sitting in my place on Lake Atitlan making arrangements for Brenda and Adrian´s trip to Guatemala in February. Now they´re gone and I´m wrapping up the last couple of weeks in Central America.

One of the places I reserved was on the Rio Dulce (literally Sweet River) at a place called Hotel Tortugal. With thatched roofs and a real jungle feeling, we decided it was a bargain at $50 a night for an adorable little house in a romantic setting for Brenda and Adrian and reasonable for a bungalow at $40 a night for me.

However, when we arrived last Friday, the romantic little house was very cute but my bungalow was dark, small and wasn´t at all conducive to getting any work done this week. So off I went to speak with the owner about what we could do. Thankfully, she understood completely, especially when she heard I was working on my next book and would be spending lots of time in my place writing.

Once I made it clear to her what was important to me (light, space, privacy and a place to work), she took me to this little house behind where Brenda and Adrian were staying. Very private, located at the top of the hill overlooking the river with jungle all around, Brenda and I were pretty impressed by the size and amenities the little house had. Lovely livingroom furniture, a wrap-around balcony with tables, chairs and plenty of places to work, a full kitchen and a large bedroom all added up to a nice house.

I was thinking, “yikes, if the little bungalow is $40, Brenda and Adrian´s is $50, this place must be $150 a night.” I was calculating in my mind how much I would be willing to pay to have the place which coincidentally had just been vacated that day after a month´s occupancy. Fortuitous or what?

So of course my only comment was, “how much for the week?” She stopped and said, “we normally only rent it out for the month and to people we know and trust but I´ll rent it to you for the week for….$200.” I heard Brenda almost gasp behind me and I quickly said, “it´s a deal. Can you get a cleaner in here this afternoon so I can move in? It will be worth a nice tip if she can do it?” Needless to say, I was moving in before the cleaning lady was locking up the door.

Don´t ask me how she did the math on this one, but what Brenda has noticed repeatedly throughout our journey together is that I know when to shut up in negotiations. I never speak first and I always allow the other person to put out the first offer. Amazingly, it is often better than what I was willing to pay.

So how do you get what you want? First of all, be clear on what you want. Secondly, expect to get what you want OR better. I had told Brenda and Adrian several times on the trip that I couldn´t wait to see what my surprise at the Rio Dulce was going to be. The beauty of Antigua had completely taken me by surprise – I wasn´t expecting it to be so pretty. The weather in Tikal was a complete surprise to all of us as we donned jackets and sweaters instead of sweating profusely. The only thing left was my surprise in Rio Dulce. I expected it to be good but this was an amazing surprise!

Thirdly, learn to keep quiet. Maybe it´s all those years of training as a Jehovah´s Witness going from door to door, I don´t know. But I do know that as much as I can talk, I can also shut up when it´s in my highest and best interest to do so. Negotiations is definitely one of those times and I have repeatedly found that silence and patience are two valuable tools to get what you want.

The owner is thrilled because I´m happy, she´s already rented out my bungalow and she has an extra $200 this week renting the house. Now if she could only talk to the cockroaches that like this place as much as I do….then I´d be even happier.

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