Post No.: 0971
Furrywisepuppy says:
Whilst Fluffystealthkitten forwarded some really handy pointers that you can follow to enhance your success in general persuasion and negotiation contexts in Post No.: 0960, I’m going to dispense some specific and tactical gambits you should or could bring into play should the need or opportunity arise…
We’ll start with some beginning gambits. These furry gambits can be utilised early on in a negotiation:
Okay, so you already know that the aim is to enlarge the pie as much as possible before you embark on dividing it. But what you should do once you’ve enlarged it is separate each and every individual component item out as a bargaining element, and don’t concede anything to your counterpart easily.
Be truthful and upfront. Disclose any disadvantages or bad points early. The same with disclosing whatever you stand to gain – but do downplay any benefits to you.
If you don’t ask, you won’t get. So ask for more than you expect without taking the mick or making it sound like a demand. This creates room for giving concessions that you’ll be okay with. Explain why you think it’s reasonable but imply flexibility.
Negotiate hard! Virtually flinch at any proposal/counter-proposal you receive as if you conceding anything, even small, is a massive win for them. Hard-fought gains seem more significant. Give nothing away for free. If they don’t accept a price then say that only some parts of what’s on offer are available for that price. Get the most out of the negotiation at all stages.
Understand that ‘no’ is simply an opening negotiation position. First take their mind off that decision by talking about something else. No need to use high pressure (people hate that anyway, although in some contexts it’s expected). Just keep your conversation positive and take the internal attitude that you’re going to eventually achieve your demands. Make positive assumptions, like that they cannot wait to get hold of your product.
Don’t be argumentative, confrontational or threatening. To any counterpoints they make say, “I understand how you feel, but…” and use empathy. Turn things around with feeling. Use as few reasons as possible to support your points though – give no weak reasons.
Some middle gambits that can be deployed are:
Use the ‘higher authority’ gambit. For example you’ll need to confer with your solicitor and/or investors before you can make a firm decision. If they use this gambit against you then get them to bat for you by saying, “You will recommend it to them won’t you?” Try to appeal to their ego too by saying, “They always follow your recommendations, don’t they?” Or get the deal written down and agreed ‘subject to’ any rejection, say, within 24 hours.
From the other side, note that if they don’t have the authority to say ‘yes’ then they don’t have the authority to say ‘no’ either – so always only negotiate (preferably face-to-face) with someone who can say ‘yes’, although be careful when trying to go over people’s heads because they often don’t like this (particularly middle managers).
Volunteer concessions that don’t take away from your position – therefore understand exactly what it is that you want that’s also in their interests. Always have more than one option left on the table – both/all of which you can live with.
Say, “I’m sorry but you’ve got to do better than that” then be silent until they respond. If they say this to you then ask them, “Exactly how much better?” If an offer is rejected, stand your ground and keep silent. Never pitch in another lower offer without hearing their response i.e. don’t negotiate against yourself!
Whenever offering a concession, get one in return immediately, otherwise they’ll soon forget that you gave them anything. If they ask for a concession from you then say, “If we can do this for you, what can you do for us?”
Never offer to split the difference – get them to do it. If they contend that any figure is ‘only small’ then turn it around by saying that they shouldn’t mind conceding that ‘small’ amount then! If they claim to not have the budget, ask, “When does your budget year end?” They can then pay you then.
Don’t ask for everything at once – build things up step-by-step once the initial agreement is made, when they’re feeling good about the progress.
Set aside obstacles – work over any other points first to create a momentum before returning to those obstacles. If both parties want a deal but have reached an impasse – change the subject or do something different to try to gather a positive momentum again.
Ending gambits are gambits that can ensue later in the process:
Always taper concessions from big to diminishingly small. Don’t give a small concession first. Yet don’t concede your entire range at once either.
Return to any earlier rejected requests to capitalise on any positive momentum – give an extra effort to obtain them. But watch out for any ‘nibbling’ for extras from their side at the end. Say that these cost extra or laugh them off!
Obtain a large deposit if possible so that it’ll be harder for them to back out. Or if there’s just a hint of doubt before the closure of a deal, offer a miniscule concession to gain easier acceptance. The timing of offering this is critical though.
Always express or imply that you have more options, such as other parties are also interested in your offer. Hinting subtly that you can and will walk away is very powerful.
But never give ultimatums unless you actually follow them through, or you have some way to bring things back if you’re bluffing, such as you’ll need to double-check the final decision with someone on your side first. Note any ultimatums that they don’t follow through with.
Never gloat about the deal. Congratulate them instead so that it seems like they’ve won.
Upcoming are some examples of unethical gambits, or at least some questionable ones. Watch out for these gambits from your counterpart if they’re smelly sneakingtons:
Identify any ‘good cop, bad cop’-type behaviours because they’re always on their side, not yours! Just pointing out these sorts of ploys to them should embarrass them and diffuse it.
Beware of decoys or red herrings. They might fabricate a problem out of nothing to try to squeeze a concession out of you to make up for it. Or if they withdraw that issue, it may appear like you’ve won a point and therefore you ought to feel obliged to trade something in return. Always concentrate on the real issues instead.
Beware of them cherry-picking to try to procure the best deal from you by comparing items or issues with those of your competitors, which aren’t relevant here.
Beware of any deliberate mistakes they might make, which they’ll later correct in their favour – point out any mistakes you find immediately.
Beware of ‘default’ gambits. Here, they’ll propose an assumption to action unless you respond to object to it. Call them up to gently tell them that it wasn’t agreed.
Beware of them asking for more after the deal is agreed or using fait accompli to force you to accept non-agreed terms. Don’t acquiesce. Just walk away or offer a very tiny concession for easier acceptance, or simply tell them it’ll cost more if they want more. The lesson is to never leave anything to be ‘resolved later’ – tie up all details upfront and as soon as possible to avoid this kind of escalation.
Beware of any information they surrender as it may be unsubstantiated. Beware of any information gained surreptitiously too as this may have been planted and false. Don’t believe anything they say without evidence. Trust but verify.
…Part-truths, incomplete or out-of-context truths, bluffs, outright deception or misrepresentations – they’re all lies intended to gain an advantage over the other side. Even accurate information can be used in a misrepresentative way.
Expect a bit of deception at play during every negotiation. Look out for the words used, the moral makeup of the parties, the culture, motivations and context. The guarding of information is likely happening whenever people avoid answering a question, leave gaps in an answer, change the subject or even use anger and intimidation to get you to stop pressing them on an issue.
But don’t ever get frustrated or simply move on from an issue they’re guarding because that’s exactly what they’re hoping you’d do – press them on that issue! You might not get the answers you want but you can figure out the boundaries of where they’re willing to disclose information and then use this knowledge to your advantage. The information they openly give is what they think will help their cause, whereas the information they (try to) withhold may be more useful to you – hence this guarded space is more vital to your position. Therefore probe along the edge of what they’re willing to disclose so that you can get a clearer view of the entire picture.
You’ll also need to know beforehand what information you should tactically (but ethically) guard from the other party too.
Lying in response to a liar may be tit-for-tat but this will spiral downwardly into mutual distrust. Even if any agreement could be made, it’d be worthless because neither side could trust that it’d be kept.
We may self-justify lying for presuming that the other party will lie or is lying, but a liar is behaving in bad faith, and the belief in having a ‘higher moral justification for cheating’ can be quite a dangerous bias to hold too. Lying is pointless because it could invalidate the agreement or surface to harm the partnership later on, resulting in litigation and/or reputational costs (and word gets around any industry).
Simply expose their lie as it is and use the fact you didn’t lie as moral leverage. If they gave information in good faith that turned out to be false, the best approach is to present objective proof of their fuzzy mistaken belief.
Honour your agreements, or try to renegotiate them if something unforeseen frustrates a deal (although this might still come with reputational costs if the other party feels coerced into getting something smaller instead of nothing). Learn to carefully read, understand and not agree to terms that you will not or cannot honour in the first place. You don’t want to ever lose trustworthiness. Woof!
If they’re asking for information you’re not willing to give (yet) then you could say you’re not at this time authorised to discuss that, that it’s irrelevant, or you’ll need to discuss it with your partners or boss first before getting back to them about it.
If you’re accused of not being reasonable and fair then reject that premise and point out that you do think it’s a fair and reasonable offer based on your own assessments. What’s considered ‘fair’ is subjective.
If they simply go straight to asking for what’s your absolute bottom line then you could counter-hardball them by asking for their absolute bottom line first. If they give a figure, point out that there’s no way for you to verify if it is genuinely their absolute best offer hence we’re back to negotiating by exchanging positions to see if there’s a number you can both agree on.
If they’re pressuring you for an answer, say that you understand their situation but you’ll need a chance to properly think through the request before getting back to them later. Say that you should both proceed on other topics in the meantime, otherwise everybody should take a break and reconvene another time.
Woof. The overall lesson is that you must be fully prepared before going to the table, and fully aware of the potential gambits from your counterpart, in order to be able to engage in the swordplay that an aggressive or inappropriate question or demand requires. Always stay calm, in control and confident.
Comment on this post by replying to this tweet:
