Don t Be Bullied

Don’t Be Bullied

The real trick when you’re negotiating with this type of person is holding on to your main positions and making concessions elsewhere without looking like a wimp. Because if he thinks you’re a wimp, it’s going to take forever for him to realize you’re not.

You’re not. Trust me.

And keep reminding yourself that it’s not personal. Tactics are fluid. Your goal—your bottom line, the thing you’ve decided you want and what you’re willing to pay/do in exchange for it—carefully figured out by the commander before the negotiations began, is not personal.

Convincing the other side that you’re not going to cave in can be done partly through body language and voice tone. You should always appear confident and knowledgeable during your negotiations, but it’s especially important in this case. It’s not a weakness to admit you don’t know something or will have to check on it; it’s all in how you do it.

If you go, “Uh, um, well by, uh, golly I never thought of that, and, uh well, I don’t know . . .” the wimp light will begin blinking above your head.

But if you say, “You know, you may have a good point there. Let me research that and get back to you,” you’ve done several things. Besides complimenting the other side on his intelligence without yourself looking bad, you’ve set the stage to say, “Now let’s move on to point B . . .”