We are giving below some of the common negotiation tactics that are used by the negotiators in

their work. We are not labelling any tactic as good or bad or even effective or not so effective. Since
in real life people do use them from time to time to get leverage in their negotiations with others, it
is important that every one knows them. You may use the tactic that seems right to you depending
on the situation and various factors related to the situation. Here are these negotiation tactics:

1 Always follow the process: Follow the 7 step process of negotiations as given at
http://negotiating-skills.blogspot.com/.

2. Unwilling buyer or seller: Showing reluctance, disinterest, casual attitude, it's immaterial whether
the deal takes place or not.

3. Recoil: Use body language projecting surprise, shock or unpleasant reaction to the offer made.

4. Ask a bit more at close: Wait until end of the negotiating process and then, ask for a little more.

5. Pressure to reveal: Put pressure on the other party to reveal their position by indirect expression
like, "how much more can you improve on it?" The other party can get away by saying, "what's your
expectation?"

6. Power game: Using your power position (authority, charisma, position, power to reward or
punish, financial strength etc) to win a negotiation.

7. Gain other's trust: By doing so, the other party may open up or loosen up to speak out what is up
his sleeves.

8. Compromise: Splitting the difference exactly equally or almost equally.

9. Isolate the resistance: Keeping aside a sensitive point of negotiation and discussing other areas of
negotiation.

10. Swap: Asking the other person to offer a piece of benefit in exchange of a benefit you are willing
to offer him.

11. Can walk away without losing: Communicating the other party that it does not hurt me/us any
way if the deal is not sealed with them.

12. Written Word: Facts and figures in writing are take more authentically as compared to when you
speak them out. So keep your written supporting material handy for use during negotiations.

13. Confused: Pretend or act confused. It diffuses competition.

14. Throw tantrums: Emotional drama may cause the other party to lose their focus or attention on
some aspects of negotiation.
15. Place of negotiation: Carrying out negotiation in a particular place may have impact on the
process and outcome of negotiations. Therefore, choice of venue for negotiations is important.

16. The nice guys: He is that negotiator who goes along with you but secretively is against you. You
have to spot him and deal with him appropriately.

17. Power of presence: While the negotiation is being carried out your subordinate, you being
present on the spot may be of advantage.

18. Networking: When you have a wide network and you happen to negotiate with one from your
network, since you have already done your pre-negotiation preparation, the process results in
positive synergies.

19. Direct attack/Exhibit power: When you have strengths, you are in powerful position and nothing
to lose but only to again, and you are also right, make a direct attack so that the others will give in
quickly. The times you know that you are wrong but powerful and you are not concerned about the
other person or party, you can exhibit your strength and clinch the deal.

20. Indirect attack: When there are threatening and time consuming barriers, you can do with an
indirect attack on the other party by involving a third party that possesses a great degree of power
over the the other party.

21. Person to person: If an important negotiations involve groups of people on both sides
negotiating, you may choose to deal the matter on one-on-one basis if that has chances of better
success.

22. Divide and rule: This is a corollary or extension of person-to-person tactic. This is particularly
true when the other party consists of persons having differences of opinions of some aspects of
negotiation but are putting up a common front.

23. Outnumber: Constitute your negotiating team with more number of people with more
knowledge/expertise than the number of persons in the other party.

24. Strike when the iron is hot: See and grab the opportunities and take advantage of them. Make
sure you have the required back up resources to manage the outcomes of negotiations.

25. Speed: Be there to negotiate and close it successfully faster than the other interested parties.

26. Create momentum illusion: Create a perception that some plan or some business is gaining
momentum and get the rest of the people to join the bandwagon.

27. Trap: Deceive the other party in perceiving loopholes in your proposition and pursue the
negotiation with vigor and fall into your trap.

28. Harassment: When your victory is not in sight and if you have a way, you can harass the other
party and make it weak and lose confidence. they will give in.

29. Reserved: Make yourself hard to find person. The issue brought forward may fizzle out on its
own or when you make yourself available after a lots of wait, you may dilute the issue as the other
party has lost patience.

30. Suicide: Allow other party to go ahead with their plan unrestricted when you are sure that their
chances of failure are very high, it's suicidal. When they fail or do not show promise, you take over
and dictate.

31. Winner: It is opposite of suicide. If the other party wins or they do better, take credit for
negotiating it that way and become the winner yourself.

32. Waste other's time: If you have plenty of time on hand and the other person with whom you are
negotiating cannot afford to loose his time, keep on stretching your negotiations with him. He will
close it in your favor.

Caution

The above-mentioned list of negotiating tactics are not necessarily comprehensive. There may be
many more. Here the idea was to give you a good flavor of them.

Some of the above-mentioned tactics support the win-win approach, some don't and there are some
that are rank win-lose tactics. Use those tactics that suit your personal and professional values and
considering their short term and particularly long term effects.

What is Negotiation?

Your real world is a giant negotiating table and like it or not, you are a participant.
You as individual come in conflict with others: family members, bosses, subordinates,
sales people/suppliers, competitors, government agencies etc.
Negotiation is a common approach in making decisions and resolving conflicts.
Negotiations can be viewed as a problem solving process in which interested parties
communicate their differences and attempt to reach a common agreement.
How do you handle these encounters can determine not only whether you prosper but
whether you can enjoy a full, pleasurable, satisfying life.
Negotiation is a field of knowledge and endeavor that focuses on gaining favor of
people from whom we want things. It is as simple as that.
What do we want? We want all sorts of things: prestige, freedom, money, justice,
status, love, security and recognition.
It is not haggling or price chiseling.
Some of us know better than others how to get what we want. You are about to
become one of these.
What is negotiation? It is use of information, time and power to affect behavior within
a web of tension and you are negotiating all the time.
 Changing of relationship between two or more people.

Objectives

Arrive at reasonable and fair price and other terms for given specifications
Perform contract on time
Exert control over the manner in which contract is performed
To give maximum cooperation
Develop sound and continuing relationship

Three Crucial Elements of Negotiation

Information: The other side seems to know more about you and your needs than you know
about them and their needs.
Time: The other side does not seem to be under the same kind of organizational pressure,
time constraints and restrictive deadlines you feel youre under.
Power: The other side always seems to have more power and authority than you think you
have.

Almost Everything Is Negotiable

Whether you do or dont negotiate anything should be strictly up to you based on your
answers to the following questions:

Am I comfortable negotiating in this particular situation?

Will negotiation meet my need?
Is the expenditure of energy and time on my part worth the benefits that I can receive
as a result of this encounter?

Steps of Negotiation Preparation

Seven Stages of Negotiating Process:

1. Examine purpose and nature of conflict. Solve the correct problem.

2. Identify objectives. What are the consequences?
3. Classify facts. Faulty assumption + Expertise = Faulty conclusion.
4. Establish agenda. Consider issues of all the parties involved.
5. Select position. Position represents a preference toward a particular outcome.
6. Assess need. Needs and their satisfaction are the common denominators in negotiations.
7. Determine strategy and tactics.

Features Other Than Price

Longest time in business: rich experience.

Only Manufacturer.
Knowledge of all the problems and related solutions.
Only company giving two years unconditional warranty.
Exporters to particular countries.
Largest installation base.
ISO 9001 company.
 Own field staff, own sales staff and value added retailers.
Stock of spares at every branch.
Etc etc.

Typical Negotiating Positions

Buyers position
Minimum - Objective - Maximum

Sellers position
Minimum - Objective - Maximum

Essence or heart of negotiation lies between the objective positions of buyer and seller.

Definitions

Goldhaber defines communication as the process of creating and exchanging messages

within a network of interdependent relationship to cope with the environmental uncertainty.

Keith Davis defines communication as the transfer of information and understanding from
one person to another person. It is a way of reaching others with facts, ideas, thoughts and
values. It is a bridge of meaning among people so that they can share what they feel and
know. By using this bridge a person can cross safely the river of misunderstanding that
sometimes separates people.

Newman and Summer: a process of exchange of knowledge, ideas, thoughts, opinions,

feelings, emotions or information between two or more individuals.

American Society of Training & Development: a process of interchange of information to

bring about a mutual understanding and confidence for good human relations.

Louis Allen: as a sum total of all the things one person does when he wants to create an
understanding in the mind of another.

Katz and Kahn: as the exchange of information and transmission of meaning that is very
essence of a social or organizational system.

Communication is viewed as the transfer of information from one person to another, whether
or not it elicits confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable to the
receiver. It should never be forgotten that nothing could logically be called information
unless it informs someone.

In its broadest sense, the purpose of communication in enterprise is to effect change- to

influence action in the direction of enterprise welfare.

Numerous Purposes
 Seeking or receiving information, allocating blame, encouragement, control, selling
proposals, confrontation.
Talking to different levels within hierarchy - to individuals, to groups, to departments
and externally to customers, suppliers, banks, other professionals.
Using both formal communication:
meetings, reports, proposals, notices;
and informal communication:
counseling, advising, talking to other employees.
Working in different roles: as chairman, project leader, analyst, subordinate,
colleague.
Evaluating communications: are they facts, opinions, gossip?
Building networks to obtain real information.
Trying to influence those over whom you have no power.

Again as mentioned earlier, in its broadest sense, the purpose of communication in enterprise
is to effect change- to influence action in the direction of enterprise welfare.
Types of Communication
1. Verbal communication
- Oral
- Written

2. Non-verbal communication
- Silence
- Signals:
Audio signal
Visual signals
Communication Process
Entities of the process

Sender (Encoder)
Message (Verbal and non-verbal)
Medium
Stimuli (Noise)
Receiver (Decoder)
Feedback (Verbal and non-verbal)

Barriers to Communication

Hearing what we want to hear

Ignoring conflicting information
Perceptions about the communicator
Influence of the group/Distrust of communicator
Words mean different things to different people/Badly expressed messages
Faulty translations
Loss by transmission and poor retention
Inattention
Unclarified assumptions
Insufficient adjustment period
Premature evaluation
 Non-verbal communication
Emotions
Fear
Noise
Size
Failure to communicate

Overcoming Barriers to Communication

Adjust to the world of the receiver

Use feedback
Use face-to-face communication
Use reinforcement
Use direct simple language
Suit the actions to the word
Use different channels
Reduce problems of size

Check and Re-check Your Communication

One way of reducing the effects of these barriers is to check continuously during the
communication process what the message really is and for this check it at each stage e.g.
sending, receiving, understanding, accepting.

Check List

Sender

Who: To whom should the message go?

Why: Why am I communicating? What are my motives?
What: Decide what to communicate. Be clear about what you need to communicate.
When: Choose the best time for optimum reception.
How: Use language the receiver will understand and which is unambiguous.
Where: Choose a location that will not interfere with the reception, understanding and
acceptance of the message: Privately? Home or away? In a group? At work or outside?
Keep checking with receiver.

Receiver

Be fully attentive to sender.

Understand actively to the message being sent.
Ask for clarification, repetition, where necessary.
Keep checking with sender.

Together
 Realize that misunderstandings are bound to occur and be alert for all cues to this effect.
Understand again.
Test your understanding of the message.
Share opinions, feelings and perceptions generated by the message.

Beware of Distortions in Communication

Given below is a hilarious piece on distortions in communication (to be taken in a lighter

vein, yet amply warns about the disasters of distortions in communication):

1. Communication from Managing Director to Works Director:

Tomorrow morning there will be a total eclipse of the sun at nine o'clock. There is something
which we cannot see happen every day, so let the workforce line up outside in their best
clothes to watch it. To mark the occasion of this rare occurrence I will personally explain it to
them. If it is raining we shall not be able to see it very well and in that case the workforce
should assemble in the canteen.

2. Communication as passed down from Works Director to General Works Manager:

By order of the managing director there will be a total eclipse of the sun at nine o'clock
tomorrow morning. If it is raining we shall not be able to see it very well on the site, in our
best clothes. In that case the disappearance of the sun will be followed through in the canteen.
There is something that we cannot see happen every day.

3. Communication as passed down from General Works Manager to Works Manager:

By the order of the managing director we shall follow through, in our best clothes, the
disappearance of the sun in the canteen at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. The managing
director will tell us whether it is going to rain. This is something which we cannot see happen
every day.

4. Communication as passed down from Works Manager to Foreman:

If it is raining in the canteen tomorrow morning, which is something that we cannot see
happen every day, our managing director, in his best clothes, will disappear at nine o'clock.

5. Communication as passed down from Foreman to Shop Floor:

Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock our managing director will disappear. It's pity that we
cannot see this happen every day.
For More Guidance, Assistance, Training and Consultation:

Contact: prodcons@prodcons.com

Training on all aspects of communication through modular training programs on "Effective

Communication", "Effective Speaking", "Effective Presentation", "Effective Listening",
"Email Etiquette", "Transaction Analysis (TA)", "Body Language" etc is provided by
Prodcons Group's Mr Shyam Bhatawdekar and/or Dr (Mrs) Kalpana Bhatawdekar, renowned
management educationists, management consultants and trainers- par excellence, with
distinction of having trained over 150,000 people from around 250 organizations.