FEATURE | NEGOTIATING
WHEN FREE CAN BE COSTLY
SIMON BUZZA provides the next two rules in his series of 12 key rules of negotiating RULE NUMBER 9 GIVE AWAY NOTHING FOR FREE
When negotiating, a good mindset to adopt is the one that says everything has a value and that nothing should be given away for free. And yet, far too often, well-intentioned or naïve negotiators give away items to the other party when they need not. The irony is that by giving something away too easily, its value to the recipient becomes much diminished. Let me share two related but different perspectives on this. First, giving something away is not negotiating. It is conceding or avoiding the negotiation. This is akin to buying items from a shop, where few would bargain with the shopkeeper for a better price. It is simply giving or taking an order for goods or services, but not negotiating. However, some people do negotiate in shops, and with stellar results. Second, many negotiators are prone to certain behaviours and styles that render them vulnerable to exploitation when striking a deal.
Why do negotiators give away value?
There are four major factors that govern the tendency to give away value: 1. Habitual “expensive” persuasion styles As the persuasion tools model (shown opposite), based on work by Kenneth Berrien, illustrates: l Bargaining and compromise are expensive persuasion methods because we have to give away or trade some items of value l Emotion and logic cost nothing and can be very powerful persuaders l Our database suggests that about 90% of people naturally overuse bargaining and compromise l More than 65% are comfortable with logic If we split the emotion box into two elements: l Positive emotion (warm supportive words) – few people are comfortable with this style, even though 20 WINNING EDGE
20-23 Buzza V2.indd 2
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25/10/2017 17:33
