Tactical Negotiations

Before a negotiation with a vendor, plan how you will behave and how you will react to the other party's behavior. When entering a "tactical" negotiation, you need to consider FIVE main phases:

• Opening.
• Questioning for Control.
• Testing and Probing.
• Persuasion and Movement.
• Closing.

Opening

When entering the "Opening phase," you may want to consider easing your way into the negotiation by being cordial and polite in the initial exchanges. Many people see the opening as the most important phase as it provides either party with the opportunity to influence the direction of the negotiation and gain control.

As a negotiator, it is important that you are prepared for this and look to take the initiative at the earliest possible moment. Make your intentions and positions clear and stick close to them, but be prepared for shock tactics in the opening exchanges. Shock tactics, e.g. adopting an extreme or unpredictable position, can be powerful, seriously disrupting the other party's strategy and determining who has initial control of the discussions.

Above all in the opening phase, aim high in your expectations and be prepared to back these up with credible arguments. Adequate planning prior to this stage will also give you room to continue the negotiation even if you need to alter your approach.

This initial encounter provides you with an opportunity to gain advantage, by getting your opponent to release valuable information, through planned questioning, summarizing and probing. If this is achieved, it makes it difficult for the other party to recover his/her position or backtrack without losing credibility.

Questioning for Control

"Questioning for control" requires you to ask good and insightful questions and enables you to attack your opponent’s position. Consideration of your questioning style is paramount at this stage – talk less and ask more. Questions will need to be tempered in line with how the negotiation is progressing, your aim is to maintain the flow of information while retaining control of the situation. If countered and your control is threatened, use responses that deflect probes, e.g. "I'd have to think about that."

Using agreement staircases can force your opponent into favorable positions for you. Here’s an example of a set of staircase questions.

• "Do you agree that in long-term and strong relationships short-term advantage-seeking can be damaging?"
• "Do you agree that we are in a close and long-term relationship?”
• "Then surely what you are suggesting is inappropriate?"

Avoid being negative, and above all, do not interrupt the other person when he/she speaks. Listen carefully to his/her response, and use selective questioning to test understanding before moving on to the next stage. Be persistent in your approach. A good question deserves an answer.

Testing and Probing

The "testing and probing" phase of tactical negotiation allows you to test understanding and enables you to condition the other side in terms of your resolve to achieve the objectives that you have laid down.

Skilled negotiators test and probe to undermine their opponent's arguments, assess his/her strength and caliber and challenge his/her position. As a note of caution, it is important to remember that highly assertive testing and probing can appear as an attack on the other side and that could cause a hardening in your opponent’s position and attitude. So be prepared for this. Remember, the challenge should be on the position not the person.

Structure your questions correctly to minimize the amount of information you release as you obtain data. Also, be wary of understating your own and over-estimating the position of the other side. No position is certain until it has been tested.

Look for signals, e.g. when your opponent’s weaker arguments are dropped. When more positive proposals are suggested, do not be too enthusiastic. Try to avoid the quick settlement and be prepared to go through a series of testing cycles to see if there is merit in extending the debate to gain further reward.

Persuasion and Movement

The penultimate phase of tactical negotiation is the "persuasion and movement" phase, which should be used to guide your opponent into a position which will allow you to close the deal.

It may be in your own interest to make the first move to signal the time to concede. In taking this step, don't consider it as a weakness. What is important is the control you exert over the amount of movement you make. Your aim must be to move very slowly and infrequently and to avoid any major shifts in your position that could enable the other side to gain control of the situation.

During this phase you may enter stages when the discussion appears to be foundering, e.g. if your opponent is under pressure, or the discussion has lasted a long time. In situations such as these, take the initiative to encourage movement and re-energize the situation without signaling submission. If there is a major obstacle, try to break it down into smaller chunks that may be more manageable.

One option is to allow your opponent the opportunity to make some proposals as to how the process can move forward. In following this approach, make sure you do not reject any proposals out of hand, as this could be perceived as blocking and result in a stalemate. Give proposal(s) consideration at least and remember to seek clarification on all the points raised.

When swapping concessions it is important to remember the basics:

• Stay close and move slowly from your opening position.
• Always swap – never give – concessions.
• Sell the value and benefit of concessions.
• Make the other party work hard for (and therefore value) concessions which you make.

The concession sequence is also important, always put what you want first, and what you are prepared to offer second. This should help to avoid the other party taking your offer and not conceding anything in return.

It is important to empathize with the other party when they make a concession, i.e. to recognize his/her movement, but be careful how you respond, e.g. "I'll consider it" is invariably perceived as a concession by the other party.

Be prepared to adjourn the meeting to allow people time to re-think their position, but in doing so ensure that you end the session having put forward a strong argument which allows you to retain control of the meeting when it reconvenes.

Summarizing is another good way to encourage movement, allowing people to refocus on the current position and highlight the positives thus far and possible options to move forward.

Closing

Summarizing can allow the negotiator to move to the "closing phase" of the process. Be wary, however, in moving here for the sake of it, i.e. before tangible agreement has been achieved. It may be better to register the disagreement and to consider or invoke a fall-back position (best alternative to no agreement – BATNA).

If agreement has been reached, then you may be at the most vulnerable stage of the negotiation, there being a tendency for people to relax as the tension begins to wear off. Shrewd negotiators could see this as an opportunity to obtain some final concessions before concluding the deal. The need to remain vigilant is paramount.

Treat final offers with some suspicion. Remember to test and probe all areas of the final offer to ensure that you have complete understanding of all the details of the agreement. Preface everything with "IF."

Once you are confident that you have achieved the best offer, take the time to summarize what has been agreed and ensure that you obtain agreement on that summary. You need to confirm the key points in writing rather than allow the other party to do so. This maintains control of the situation.

In conclusion, it is important to remember:

• Excellent tactics are no substitution for a well-planned and executed negotiation strategy.
• First impressions count so be sure that you start this process early.
• Achieve and maintain control at all times and plan your behavior and approach in each phase.
• Do not swing wildly away from your stated position. Move slowly and only in return for a concession.