A quick word first1
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This Tuesday’s article looked at the propriety of the age-old negotiation gambit of claiming that your boss won’t approve a deal that you reached with an outside party. Now let’s switch seats at the bargaining table, so that you’re the one who has to counter that move.
Specifically, you’ve been negotiating the terms of an important contract. It looks like you’ve reached an agreement that works for both you and your counterpart. But then she’s the one who says, “This all looks good, but I’ve got to run it by my boss.”
Whoops! You’ve already made some serious concessions and now it looks like the other side is going to ask for more. What should you do?
First of all, you should have tried to confirm their authority to close the deal. “Tried” is the operative word as they may profess having that power at the start, but later back away from that commitment.
Second, the less sure you are about their authority, the more cautious you should be about making a generous offer. If there’s going to be another round of bargaining, you need to preserve some room to maneuver.
Third, if they do play the check-with-my-boss card, call them on it. What you say depends on your own nature and style. If it were me, I might pause for a few seconds, looking them in the eye before saying, “That’s not what you told me earlier. What am I to make of that?” It would express my displeasure along with a willingness to play hardball myself.
If that’s too confrontational, you might instead say, “Okay. We’ve covered a lot of ground here. I should probably check with my people, too, and see if they have any problems with what we’ve come up with.” Fair is fair, and now they should think about possibly losing some of the gains they already won dealing with you.
Next, consider asking to speak with the behind-the-scenes boss himself. After all, he’s supposedly the one deciding yes or no. If he has time to talk with the person you’ve been negotiating with, there’s no good reason why he can’t talk with you. (That’s especially true now as we’ve learned how meet remotely).
Finally, in any follow-up session beware of making concessions without getting something back of value in return. Otherwise you run the risk of getting caught in a “salami game” where, because you keep giving, they come back again and again for one more slice.
Looking ahead
Happy 4th of July for those of you in (or of) the States! I hope you have a great time over the weekend with family and friends. Here on the Massachusetts coast, we’ll get out on water for sure. Mike
Photo credit: Charles Buchler, on Unsplash