Dictating Terms

What happens if the other side really doesn’t know what it wants?

It’ll be tempting, very tempting, to simply dictate terms . . . or to try to throw them in as oh-by-the-ways at the closing.

Don’t do it.

The basis of good negotiating is mutual trust and understanding. That’s not just feel-good baloney socks either. Going into a negotiation, negotiators should have a clearly defined goal. Achieving that goal is what it’s all about. Skipping over the fine print makes you vulnerable to it at the closing.

Now I’m not saying you have to bend over backward to help the other side, or that you should emphasize the negatives of a deal for the other side. If I’m talking with a hostage taker who’s already committed a murder, I’m not likely to say something like, “Well you know, after you surrender we will be hoping to fry you in the electric chair.”

But you do owe it to yourself to present a fair and equitable deal.

To yourself?

Yup. Because it’s very possible that the people you’re dealing with will wake up tomorrow, and if not then, the day after that, and if they feel they’ve been ripped off, they may back out of the deal. If it’s too late for that, they may still find some way to get back at you—if only by refusing to do business with you again.

Call it Dominick’s rule of complete negotiations: Major issues in a contract should always be aired at the negotiation stage. If the other side doesn’t bring them up, make sure you do.