Category Archives: Negotiating Tactics

Summary: Attempting to change the outcome of a negotiation after the counterpart thinks everything is settled. Have you ever been involved in a negotiation and thought you had concluded a deal, only to learn that…

Summary: Breaking the price up into small increments to lessen the impact of the total amount. With this tactic, you break dollars and cents down into such small amounts that your counterpart doesn’t realize he…

Summary: Making a ridiculously low or high offer. Example You’re trying to sell your house for $289,000 when your agent brings you an offer of $260,000 from a couple who saw the house over the…

Summary: Taking back an initial offer to keep from being taken advantage of. Truly withdrawing your initial offer may be in your best interest in some situations. This tactic can be used when you feel…

Summary: Acting uninterested in continuing the negotiation. Although you sometimes may not want to go to the extreme of walking away from a deal, you may still want to give your counterpart the feeling that…

Summary: Citing lack of precedent as a reason for turning down a deal point. When you cite a precedent, you use something that has happened in the past to justify a current request, position, or…

Summary: Using a well-respected source of information to support a position. Objective criteria are often useful as a baseline for negotiations. Some well-known standard benchmarks include the Kelley Blue Book, the Consumer Price Index, the…

Summary: Asking for concessions one at a time, to make them more palatable. Few people eat a whole salami with one swallow. Salami just goes down easier if you cut it into small pieces. The…

Summary: Working alongside your counterpart to create a win-win outcome. Although it is always good to have a plan complete with solutions laid out in your mind, getting your counterpart involved in generating win-win solutions…