Negotiation Tactic #5 – Concede Small

Summary: Sticking to minor concessions in the opening rounds of a negotiation.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you are going to concede in the opening rounds of a negotiation, Concede Small.

Example

You are selling your house and your asking price is $550,000. You receive an offer of $500,000. Instead of countering with $525,000 in the first round, which is what most people would do, you counter with $548,250. This small concession is a better starting point for this negotiation.

Although negotiating this way takes time, conceding in small increments makes it more likely that you will end up with $540,000. If you immediately counter the buyer’s offer at $525,000, he will probably counter with $512,500, and you will end up getting less money for your house.

Counter

The best counter for the buyer in this scenario is to respond with his own small concession, for example, a counteroffer of $508,250.

Have you used or encountered this tactic in your negotiations? If so, how’d it go?

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