In business negotiations, it is better not to be pathologically cooperative or competitive, but to know when to adapt to partners' beliefs andpersonalities as well as to the context and/or the particular time of the negotiation. You cannot change other people's beliefs or parts of theirpersonality however persuasive you are. Only by thorough preparation can you manage it, provided that you concentrate on the context andthe behavioural mode of the other person. Our daily experience on these matters and contact with KAMs and buyers from the largestinternational companies has shown us that, with very few exceptions, buyers prepare far better than KAMs. As if by some hereditary featureof the function, salespeople seem to trust their sense of adaptation and instinctive flexibility unquestioningly - a grave mistake.