Some Other Traps of the Professional Negotiator
The Decoy
This involves starting off by “exhausting” your counterpart by spending hours demanding a concession that you know to be completely nonnegotiable. The negotiator then suddenly lifts the pressure by waiving that demand, but in exchange asks his counterpart to immediately grant another demand, which is depicted as being of little consequence. This second demand, in reality a major demand, was the negotiator’s main objective from the outset.
Blowing Hot and Cold
Otherwise known as the “solo” version of the “good cop/bad cop” routine.
The False Friend
“If you significantly improve your offer, together we shall have better arguments with which to convince my boss.”
The Shopping List
Your counterpart artificially increases the number of items for negotiation to induce you to accept a number of significant concessions.
The Vulture
As soon as you offer a concession, your counterpart minimizes it to show that the real negotiations have not yet begun.
The Leader of the Pack
The seller faces a large group of buyers who simultaneously attack different aspects of the seller’s proposal like a pack of wolves. The negotiations seem chaotic. In reality, a leader is continuously directing the pack so as to dismember its prey.
The Fait Accompli
If an item has not been addressed, it is deemed to have been granted automatically on the terms that your counterpart wants.
The Secret Agent
I don’t really want to go into this, but we know that you’re giving one of our competitors better terms than us. That’s serious. Before we take things any further, let’s try to resolve that problem.
This scene takes place one Sunday morning at an antiques stall.
A woman stops in front of a dealer’s stall and says, “I’ve just bought a completely unfurnished vacation home and I’m looking to give it a bit of life. What is your price for all these knickknacks?” The secondhand dealer looks at the dozens of objects in his stall. For weeks he has been hauling them around, packing, unpacking, and dusting them (with a few breakages), while struggling to sell them as individual items. A bulk sale would be an unexpected opportunity not to be missed. “$100 cash,” he replies.
The woman thinks about this and then suddenly notices a china plate, partially hidden behind a large vase. “May I?” Looking excited she picks up the plate and murmurs, “It can’t be, can it?” She shakes her head, visibly dumbfounded by her discovery: “He’ll never believe it!”
The dealer looks at her quizzically. The woman explains, “Every Sunday for years, my husband has been out looking for this plate. It’s the only one missing from his collection and we’ve not been able to find it anywhere—and this one is in great condition. I just can’t believe it.” Then she gives the dealer an anxious glance: “How much?”
The dealer suppresses a smile. This is an unexpected opportunity.
“It is indeed a very rare piece, but I’ll let you have it for $80, as you’ve been so nice to me”
The woman looks pensive and gazes at the plate, nodding her head gravely.
“Well, I’m going to have to think about the plate.” Then she looks the dealer straight in the eye, smiling innocently, and says, “For today, I’ll just take the rest, for $20, naturally.”