Chapter 7: Negotiable Variables - Or Tradeable Concessions

Overview

So far we have looked in different ways at the first four of our six key elements: prepare, rehearse, describe, propose. Now we turn to the heart of all successful negotiation, the bargaining phase. Remember our definition: 'To bargain means to make it a condition of an agreement that something should be done.'

Bargaining means making any move on your part conditional on a move from your opposite number. There should never be any exception to this rule. It should be indelibly imprinted into our minds. Concessions must be traded with care. In simple terms, we never give assent to any concession until the other person has agreed what he or she will give in return.

Unskilled negotiators find a pressure to move quickly to give things away. If the other party has any sense, they will ask you for more, and the likelihood is that they will keep asking.