Career Mission's Chief Executive Officer, A. Harrison Barnes, in a webinar discussed the serious harm that you could face if you chose to drive a sharp bargain. In his article, Harrison lucidly illustrates how driving sharp bargains typically backfires, and can create long term problems for you.

Through the example of the law firm which paid very high salaries to its employees, Harrison states how it is extremely crucial to remember that at any point of time, if something looks like a bargain, it probably is not. Any employee who did not live up to the expectations of the firm was chewed up and spat out with a ferocity that was difficult to believe. Hence, there are numerous factors that ultimately constitute a ‘price’, which in this case meant that since the firm was paying too much of  money, they pushed their employees to extreme limits and made sure they derived value from whatever amounts they were paying out.

People do everything they can to drive a sharp bargain and to get the best terms possible. Getting the best terms is usually not the smartest thing to do. It can be dangerous to the point that you lose your job, your business fails, or you stop earning altogether. What Harrison is trying to tell you is that you need to give more value than you receive. You need to contribute so much value that people want to do business with you, or wish to buy your products and services constantly. You can consider yourself lucky when you get a good deal, but you should never push to get the best terms with everything. It is likely that your behavior will backfire on you.