Adapted from the book entitled Negotiate To Win by Jim Thomas, I encourage my clients to make copies of this poster and have it padded to use as preparation anytime they are ready to enter a negotiation.
Each of the rectangular boxes represents a different issue that will be under discussion during the negotiation. The negotiation team determines the Opening Offer, The Target, and the Bottom Line for each of the issues. A good starting place for beginning this process is to ask yourself the question “What will it cost the other party NOT to have you in their life?” The answer to this question tends to grow the commitment necessary to sustain your positions throughout the negotiations.
What you ultimately write in each rectangle is important as you must be committed to accepting the deal anytime the other party’s offer falls within that rectangle. Negotiation is no place for greediness.
No issue will be completely closed until the close of all negotiation as oftentimes one issue will be used in concession on another issue. It’s very important to postpone final decision on all issues until all issues have been resolved.The top box gives the ideal situation assuming you have a thirty minute negotiation time frame. Move quickly to your target in 50/50 increments during the first half of your time frame. Then move painfully slowly to your bottom line in the remaining half of your time frame always remembering the 6 Critical Rules in the bottom left hand corner of the page.
1. No Unilateral Concessions – You never give up anything without getting something from them in return. Hence the need for the boxes in the lower right hand corner of template. What concessions can you make that are of low cost to you but of high value to them? What concessions can you ask for from them that are high value to you but of low cost to them? Know what those are going into the negotiation.
2. Start High – Don’t begin with where you ultimately want to be. You’ll make the other party feel badly. How would you feel if someone asked you your price for something and then after telling them, they quickly shot back “We’ll take it.” We all like deals and don’t want to wonder if we priced something too low by how quickly the price was accepted by the other party.
3. Use 50/50 On The Way To The Target – Move quickly from your high opening offer (see above) to your Target. You can move quickly there in 50/50 increments within the first half of your negotiation time frame.
4. “Krunch” Early And Often – Shake your head when you hear their offer, expel air out of your mouth in exasperation when they put a number forth, call caucuses to confer with your team away from the table as often as you want to break momentum of the other group and to let them know that you’re struggling with their offers.
5. Look for Low Cost/High Value Concession To Trade – See #1 above.
6. Nibble At The End – As negotiations are winding up, ask for one last small thing. They might be so tired and ready to go home, that they’ll just give it to you. Never hurts to ask.
7. Only One Person Leads At A Time – Although not among the Critical Rules list, make sure that only one person on the team is leading at any given time. No one else speaks unless requested to do so by the leader or asks the leader for permission. Caucus away from the table to change leaders. Anyone on the team can call for a caucus at anytime.
8. Don’t Win The Negotiation And Lose The Relationship – And here’s one more as a bonus. If you get 60% of what you want and the other party gets 40% of what they want or if they get 60% of what they want and you get 40% of what you want, the relationship will no doubt survive intact. However, if the spread ever gets wider than that, there is a very real chance that even though you might win the negotiation, you will damage the relationship. There’s always that potential that you are the other party just won’t “feel good” about the outcome. Then implementation of the agreed upon terms can become a problem.
Categories: Negotiating
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