Negotiation Columns & Blogs
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Locking Out is Bad Negotiation Tactic
Filmmaker and Phoenix native Steven Spielberg was 13 when, as he tells it, a “local bully gave me nothing but grief all year long. He would knock me down on the grass, or hold my head in the drinking fountain, or push my face in the dirt and give me bloody noses when...
When to limit the power to concede
“How much authority should we give our front-line negotiators,” I was recently asked. “They constantly ask for more, but the more we give the more they use. On the other hand, they aren’t taken seriously if we don’t give them enough.” This is a challenging strategic...
Leverage: Understanding and Exercising It Is Key
You’re the CEO of a company employing a quarter of the city’s employees. Your company provides a significant portion of the city’s tax revenue but neither you nor your company is active in the community’s political affairs. Recently, you decided to expand your...
Negotiating from Strength, Even if You Don’t Have Any
“We’re going to court,” she told me during a break in my negotiation seminar. “What else can we do? We really want to sell, and my brother-in-law’s `best offer’ for our share of the family business will only give us 10 percent of what it’s worth. Plus, the...
You May Be Stronger, But Be Savvy In Using Leverage
“How can we use our large size and power to get our best deal, yet still avoid alienating smaller companies with whom we want a future relationship? After all, we value our reputation and don’t want them to feel we’re just imposing our terms.” This question, posed by...
Want To Make A Deal? Don’t Let Them See You Sweat
Longtime Wall Street lawyer James Freund, counsel in many of the 1980s corporate takeover battles, wrote in his book Smart Negotiating that he almost always wanted to make the first offer on price issues as it sets the "ballpark where the action will occur." He's...
Negotiation Strategies Help Boost Leverage
My name is Marty Latz, and I am the founder of Latz Negotiation Institute, a national negotiation training and consulting company, and ExpertNegotiator, online software that helps individuals more effectively negotiate based on the experts' research. I am also the...
Leverage is Key to Sealing Business Deals
I often am asked what is the most powerful element in a negotiation - and I always answer "leverage." Bottom line: Your leverage more than anything else increases your ability to accomplish your goals. How? First, let's be clear, as leverage often is used loosely to...
Building Leverage When It’s Weak
I recently led a seminar for about 200 procurement professionals in which we addressed how to gain leverage when there’s only one entity interested in selling to you. In procurement, this is the sole source problem. Importantly, almost every negotiator has faced a...
Buyer taking a hard line shows leverage trumps fair, reasonable
“We’re selling our company and trying really hard to be fair and reasonable, but the buyer with the most synergy is now being stubborn and taking a hardline on the tough financial issues. We’ve narrowed it down to them and have made excellent progress by exploring our...
Here Are 10 Ways to Break Through a Late Impasse
One of former Chrysler president Lee Iacocca’s most formidable negotiation challenges occurred when Chrysler sought to avoid bankruptcy by negotiating with Congress in 1979 for a $1.5 billion loan guarantee. Most lawmakers initially believed government should not bail...
Negotiation impasse has some value
Impasses in three high-profile negotiations have recently focused the public’s attention on the nature of deadlock in negotiations - the Wisconsin Democrats’ walkout to Illinois, the federal budget showdown and just averted shutdown, and the NFL lockout. So how should...
Painting Pictures Improves Negotiation Effectiveness
How many times have you heard ‘A picture is worth a thousand words?’ Interestingly, it’s largely true in the negotiation world. Remember the last time you bought a car and the salesperson offered you an extended warranty? I doubt he appealed to your analytical...
‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’ Can Provide Helpful Leverage
"I would love to do the deal, but my boss is being unreasonable. I really need you to move on this issue to convince my boss to sign. Can you help me out?" Here, I'm the good cop and my boss is the bad cop. Is this common? Yes. Effective? Sometimes. The "good cop/bad...
Going Public Can Play Role in Outcome of Negotiations
Rarely does a day go by that I don't read in a newspaper about a high-profile negotiation. Perhaps it is a union picketing when talks break down, or a board of directors trying to fend off an unwanted merger. It might even involve the possible settlement of a lawsuit...
Free Negotiation Training:
Learn Latz's 5 Golden Rules of Negotiation.
We'll send you a new video for each rule and you'll get Marty Latz's monthly column with great negotiation tips. We will not share your info. (privacy policy).
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