Negotiation permeates all aspects of our lives. Kids negotiate with their parents to buy them the latest PlayStation gaming console for Christmas. Husbands negotiate with their wives to help with the house chores to go bowling "with the boys" on the weekend. And criminal investigators often negotiate with incriminated gang members to cut them slack in their sentencing if they agree to appear as federal witnesses in the court.

While negotiation is an absolute must-have in all areas of life, it's almost a survival skill in sales-where your livelihood depends on the deal size and commitment you can negotiate with your customers.

Yet, in sales, negotiation isn't all about discussing pricing or the number of licenses. Also, negotiation isn't only limited to sales.

Take customer success, for instance. Negotiation is a handy tool that helps customer success managers (CSMs) offer their customers the right upgrades and cross-sells at the right time in a way where it feels both parties are winning.

Whether in sales or customer success-a successful negotiation happens when everybody walks out of the room feeling like they won. In this post, let's look at 9 actionable negotiation techniques that will help you understand your customers better and find ways to grow together.