Studious readers may note that what's good for the giant meganational corporation is also good for the individual: you don't get something if you don't ask for it.
This is the root of that whole 'rejection therapy' business that was so cool a few weeks ago.
Strongly agreed, I started asking for discounts as par for the course for my tiny company on everything. Usually of the form "we'd really like to stretch the budget on this one, can we get an extra..." and it's working a third of the time with nothing more than that.
I read that article more as being about dealing with jerks, which I don't have a good strategy for.
This is the root of that whole 'rejection therapy' business that was so cool a few weeks ago.