👷‍♀️ Subbies' Toolbox Home About Contact Negotiation School 🎧Podcast Partners 📑Shop

YOUR REGISTERED!

Check your inbox for your registration confirmation

Depending on your settings, it may have ended up in your spam folders so remember to check there.

YOUR REGISTERED!

Check your inbox for your registration confirmation

Depending on your settings, it may have ended up in your spam folders so remember to check there.

While you’re here…


If you’re joining this webinar, chances are you’ve dealt with some of the same headaches I see in subcontractor businesses every week:

  • Unfair contracts that leave you exposed

  • Post-tender meetings where builders call the shots

  • Backcharges and short payments eating into your margins

  • The constant worry about protecting your business without burning bridges

That’s exactly why I created Negotiation School. It's a 4-week online course designed specifically for Australian construction subcontractors.
It’s where I teach 34 practical negotiation techniques to help you:
âś… Negotiate confidently before you sign
âś… Protect your margin and cashflow
âś… Deal with variations and backcharges without conflict
✅ Spot the red flags early — and act before it’s too late

You’ll hear more about Negotiation School in the webinar, but if you’d like to take a look now, hit the button below

EXPLORE NEGOTIATION SCHOOL
Michelle Cirson - Tricks of Your Trade

Hey, I'm Michelle

I started Tricks of Your Trade because I was sick and tired of working in the subbie flogging culture that has been so rife in the construction industry.

I do not believe the current take-it-or-leave-it dialogue coming from far too many builders is conducive to better margins and it definitely does not build us better buildings!

It was obvious to me that someone needed to cross the picket line and teach subcontractors how to stick up for themselves and fight for their money.

So here I am. With qualifications in building and law, and as a trained dispute resolution professional with actual site experience, I help subcontractors achieve good commercial outcomes that everyone can live with, without going legal.

I've worked as a builder’s Contracts Administrator, later as a construction lawyer and have since opened my own law firm. I've acted as an adjudicator deciding payment disputes between builders and subcontractors. Over my career, I’ve reviewed hundreds of subcontractor contracts and worked with subbies across Australia to:

  • Negotiate fairer terms before signing

  • Protect their margins and cashflow

  • Reduce the stress of dealing with variations, backcharges and disputes

What I do does not involve waging war on the builder, subbies are far too smart for those energy-wasting antics.

I’m all about common sense project solutions and raising issues with the builder in the gentlemen’s way.

Tried and true, I’ve helped countless subbies harness their commercial leverage to achieve common sense outcomes without breaching their subcontract.

FIND OUT MORE
Michelle Cirson - Tricks of Your Trade

Hey, I'm Michelle

I started Tricks of Your Trade because I was sick and tired of working in the subbie flogging culture that has been so rife in the construction industry.

I do not believe the current take-it-or-leave-it dialogue coming from far too many builders is conducive to better margins and it definitely does not build us better buildings!

It was obvious to me that someone needed to cross the picket line and teach subcontractors how to stick up for themselves and fight for their money.

So here I am. With qualifications in building and law, and as a trained dispute resolution professional with actual site experience, I help subcontractors achieve good commercial outcomes that everyone can live with, without going legal.

I've worked as a builder’s Contracts Administrator, later as a construction lawyer and have since opened my own law firm. I've acted as an adjudicator deciding payment disputes between builders and subcontractors. Over my career, I’ve reviewed hundreds of subcontractor contracts and worked with subbies across Australia to:

  • Negotiate fairer terms before signing

  • Protect their margins and cashflow

  • Reduce the stress of dealing with variations, backcharges and disputes

What I do does not involve waging war on the builder, subbies are far too smart for those energy-wasting antics.

I’m all about common sense project solutions and raising issues with the builder in the gentlemen’s way.

Tried and true, I’ve helped countless subbies harness their commercial leverage to achieve common sense outcomes without breaching their subcontract.

FIND OUT MORE