Category Archives: Negotiating Tactics

Summary: Refusing to take no for an answer. If you have children, especially teenagers, you know that sometimes you may give in to their demands just to be able to get on with your life….

Summary: Taking back something that has already been agreed to. This tactic is particularly effective when your counterpart is not being honest or is pushing you to the end of your rope with excessive demands….

Summary: Getting an unbiased third party to mediate a negotiation. When two counterparts do not have a history of working well together, using an intermediary, or “umpire,” to facilitate the negotiation can sometimes prove helpful….

Summary: Appealing to a counterpart’s feelings by acting personally upset by an offer. Most negotiators want to avoid hurting someone else’s feelings. Tough negotiators don’t mind being ruthless, since they consider their actions just a…

Summary: Making an offer that is contingent on specific conditions. This tactic, which is similar to The Trial Balloon, is used to check out your counterpart’s acceptance of your proposal. This tactic is based on…

Summary: Testing to see how firm a counterpart is on certain issues. Finding out how firm your counterpart is on the key issues is often helpful in a negotiation. You can get some information by…

Summary: Sending the message that if the counterpart doesn’t agree to the offer, the negotiation is finished. An effective tactic used by negotiators is saying, “This is our best and final offer. Take It or…

Summary: Changing the time for reaching a decision on a deal point. Since many negotiators set a deadline for making a decision, it is important to note that almost every deadline can be moved. Instead…

Summary: Preparing multiple options for resolving deal points before a negotiation begins. In a negotiation, the counterpart with the greatest number of viable options usually gets the best outcome. A good tactic is to walk…

Summary: Being the first to put forth an offer in a negotiation. Some negotiators believe you should never make the first offer. We have watched negotiations stall because neither counterpart was willing to make the…