Such over-the-table tactics as those I’m about to share are typically deployed—or recognized—in real time. While you may have time to prepare in advance, and while certain situations naturally call for some of these tactics, especially in today’s fast-paced world it’s even more important to recognize and deal with these tactics and ploys in real time. You won’t have a lot of time to analyze; rather, you’ll have to know negotiating types and their tactics so well that you can instinctively recognize them as they occur over the board. During a negotiation, you’re not studying the pitcher or taking batting practice—you’re up at the plate for real.
Honestly—It’s about a Win-Win
As mentioned earlier, the best negotiations are win-win—you get what you want, they get what they want; both sides go away with a good relationship that allows for a more effective next negotiation. Of course, the double win isn’t always possible—some deals end up being more advantageous to one party than the other. But throughout, it always pays to stay as up front and honest as possible. You should strive to avoid becoming the “evil negotiator.” Yes, just like you were taught while growing up—honesty is the best policy.
It’s okay to use tactical ploys, but don’t lie. It will catch up with you, just like it did in your youth. You might get a momentary advantage, but in the long run it will ruin your reputation and make it far more difficult for you to do business.
Now, on to the five tactical ploys.
Easily recognized in most cases, the good cop–bad cop ploy is a sometimes-entertaining display of two people on the same team playing opposite roles in an effort to distort the counterparty’s perception of events and control their emotions. The bad cop is disagreeable—tough minded, unreasonable, maybe irritable and angry. The good cop, on the other hand, is calm and helpful, the peacemaker or collaborator who interjects perhaps to tell the abrasive personality to ease up a little, even creating the impression of helping you.
Surely you’ve seen this tactic before on TV or in the movies. The bad cop interrogates the murder suspect by screaming, threatening, and bullying. Then the bad cop storms out of the interrogation room only to be replaced by the good cop who befriends the suspect by offering cigarettes, being nice, and promising to help him out of the situation he’s in if he would just reveal where the murder weapon is or where the body is buried.
In a business setting, the bad cop may drive a hard bargain or set a difficult-to-meet price, while the good cop may suggest a price concession or a concession in another facet of the deal such as service or delivery. Either way, the good cop appears to be mildly on your side, trying to back down the bad cop. It feels good and appeals favorably to our emotions. Behavioral economists have long noted our tendency to accept deals once a higher price, or decoy, is shown. This is because we feel we’ve gotten a better deal because we’ve avoided the “bad” one advanced by the bad cop.
You may have witnessed this ploy at a car dealership. The salesperson will play the good cop while his manager, who is never seen, plays the bad cop who won’t let the salesperson make any concessions. The salesperson will go back and forth to his manager’s office and always come back saying he did everything he could to get what you wanted, but the manager refused to budge. Eventually, he gets something from the manager, or gives you something claimed to be “under the table” as a favor. You’re elated because he worked for you, getting you the special perk not available through the bad cop. You thank the salesperson profusely and buy the car.
You may see this in reverse—the manager is the good cop, while the front-line person, in this case the salesperson, is “constrained” by the rules, dealer policy, or some such. The manager comes to the rescue. You’re thrilled, even though you probably paid something closer to what the salesperson wanted than you would have liked.
In the household, you see the good cop–bad cop routine all the time, especially when children negotiate with their parents. Dad is the tough guy, Mom comes to the rescue—or vice versa.
You can see that this ploy is typically deliberate and planned out in advance as a set of team roles, although it can come forth spontaneously as conditions warrant. You and a team member can slip into good cop and bad cop roles quite naturally if you’ve done it before. Good cop–bad cop works best when the team members have worked out the bad cop hard line and the good cop concession in advance. Again, though, this can occur quite naturally over the table and can also be an effective way to use a break during which the good cop comes to the rescue.
When you encounter this dynamic duo during a negotiation, the bad cop will attempt to intimidate you and is sure to reject every offer you make—perhaps even through animated behavior or by leaving the room in a huff. The good cop then comes to the rescue, appearing to be on your side. It’s not hard to identify this tactic, and there are several ways to deal with it:
• Say you want to negotiate with the good cop only.
• Call out the counterparty. Let them know you’re onto the ploy.
• Play along. Pretend to be alarmed by the bad cop position and statements. Threaten to end the negotiation. The bad cop may back down, and the good cop may take over.
• Roll out the same ploy. Bring your own bad cop into it. Tell them you’d be more than happy to agree to their demands, but you have a supervisor who never bends the rules. Then come to the rescue as the good cop. If you have the stronger position, your good cop and bad cop will rule the day.
• Speak to the good cop privately. Once alone, tell him you’re about to walk away from this negotiation because of the bad cop’s behavior, position, or even lack of professionalism. Do it on a break, or give the good cop time to discuss your needs privately with his team.
Dealing with good cops and bad cops, like dealing with all ploys and negotiating tactics, should be fast, friendly, and effective. Getting the bad cop out of the picture early in the game will allow the rest of the negotiation to progress more smoothly.
In the marketing and selling world, shills are specially placed people who act as bait to lure customers—and in our case, negotiating counterparties. Shills are commonly used in auctions. The shill is a false or fake bidder who is there to put in higher bids. The hope is that you, a legitimate participant, will see the “value” of the item and bid higher. In a casino, you might see someone stationed at a slot machine or table winning over and over. This too-lucky person isn’t gambling, he’s working for the house.
A decoy is a specially placed, and usually, priced, item that is designed to change your perception of value in the deal. It often comes in the form of a much higher-priced adjacent deal. For example, you see a fine dress shirt for say, $80, and discover one right next to it priced at a mere $50. Such a deal, right? That deal might not look so great if it weren’t for the fact that the $80 item was right there next to it. The higher-priced item is designed to make us act emotionally for a moment and snap up the “better” deal. That $80 shirt may have been placed specifically for this purpose, and the retailer may not have any intent to actually sell it.
Decoys psychologically manipulate you away from the true price or value of the deal and may divert your attention away from the real issues. In a negotiation, a decoy that falls outside your parameters is designed to make you feel better about taking the offer that lies within them. A decoy may be used in a defensive position: for instance, when you bring up a prior delivery problem or other issues. These things may not have really been problems, but you play them up to induce the counterparty to grant a concession.
Again, some preplanning and good teamwork are usually prerequisites, although to an experienced negotiating team some may occur on the fly. The shill can consist of “expert” testimony by a current user of the product or service, someone who appears happy (and may well be) with the deal he got.
A typical ploy is to position something as a “must” (like a certain price point) when it is really a “want”; the “must” becomes a limit in the counterparty’s mind that feels good when you finally move away from it. “Well, okay, I have a $50 dress shirt on the sale table that’s almost as good,” you might say. In this light, the $50 shirt may seem like a good option when an $80 shirt is the only alternative choice. In such cases, the more expensive shirt is playing the role of decoy.
You’ve Been “Shilling” and “Decoying” All Your Life
Seasoned negotiators can see through shills and decoys, so it’s important to use these tactics strategically and sparingly. The tactic is common and recognizable once you’re aware of it.
It’s fun to practice using shills and decoys in your business and on your friends—as I’m sure you’ve been doing all your life. You got Dad to buy you that bike by finding one less expensive than the one you originally said you wanted (decoy); you got Mom to drop the punitive action by telling her about something good that happened at school (decoy) or by bringing up the kid down the street who didn’t get into trouble for doing the same thing (shill).
Fast forward: you run a lawn service and price out a $250 once-a-week do-everything service in hopes of signing the prospective customer up for a once-every-two-weeks service for $150 (decoy). You got a neighbor to come over and thank you for doing such a good job just as you started your sales pitch (shill). Or you got your spouse to settle for a more expensive trip by arranging dinner parties with any number of friends who you knew would testify to their great experience with you (another shill).
A clothing salesperson may use accessories, shoes, or adjacent items as decoys: “Oh by the way, I’ve got some great ties and shoes on sale over here.” Such a statement is designed to give you, the customer, a stronger sense of the value for the deal overall. It also diverts your focus away from the main topic—the $80 shirt and its high price. If the sideline deals really are good, you might get a good feeling from those deals. As a result, you might be more willing to fork over $80 for the dress shirt.
Car salespeople use shills and decoys all the time. You’ll hear about a higher-priced model only so that you will feel good about the one in your price range. A sales team associate may show up to tell you how she just sold the higher-priced model to a couple “just like you.” You’ll be “decoyed off,” or seduced, by discussions of floor mats, free service, even free coffee and popcorn at the dealership—all to take your mind off the deal at hand or to make you feel just a little bit better about that deal.
The best way to play defense against this ploy is to see it coming. See “experts” and “expert testimonies” for what they really are. Evaluate each deal or price point based on its own merits. Try not to be overly influenced by the adjacent deal. See decoys for what they are—sophisticated distractions and emotional appeals to get you away from your normal sense of economic value.
Again, Be Honest
A shill can be a clever tactic—or simply a lie. For example, in an interview don’t sell yourself to a potential employer by getting a colleague to testify to your exceptional thirty-year career if you haven’t worked there for thirty years and your career hasn’t been exceptional. While the true number, twenty-five years, will still appear attractive to them, your interview won’t be enhanced by the thirty-year claim—instead it will label you as dishonest. And don’t try to use a $250 lawn service package—or dire warnings about the imminent death of the lawn—to sell the $150 “mainstream” package if you don’t really have a $250 package and the lawn is doing just fine. People figure this out pretty quickly.
When a decoy proves to be a lie or a shill proves to be a liar, that’s bad for everyone, and it will become ever harder for all involved to escape the repercussions.
The straw man technique is a ploy to make the counterparty believe something has more value than it really does. The counterparty induces a concession because a negotiating point appears to be important, even though that’s not the case. It is similar to a decoy but more likely to be conceived and put into play during the course of the negotiation rather than thought out beforehand.
The best way to explain this ploy is by example. Suppose that during the negotiation to buy a house you decide you would like to include the washer and dryer in the deal. The sellers recognize an opportunity since they were planning to buy a new washer and dryer and leave the old ones anyway. But now they have some additional bargaining power because they know you want them. Rather than simply saying, “Sure. We didn’t want to take them with us anyway,” they display concern about letting these machines go and say, “Well, maybe . . . if you’re willing to throw in a couple hundred extra toward our closing costs.” They’ve made an apparent concession to you, but in fact they’ve used the washer and dryer as a straw man—a feature or item of little value to them—to extract a concession from you.
The element of time can be another straw man. A fabricated or unnecessary delay can be used to get something else of value: “That concession you’re asking for will take some time to evaluate—we can reach a deal now if you’re willing to withdraw the request.” In this case, the saving of time is thrown out as a straw man to move the deal forward—the counterparty really doesn’t need extra time to make the decision.
Most straw man opportunities will appear as “over-the-board”—that is, at the negotiating table in real time—items that can be made seemingly important to get the other party to reconsider or make a concession. They are difficult to plan for in advance unless you know in advance (through preparation) that an item, like the washer/dryer, will be important, by, say, having their real-estate agent talk to theirs or some such. Don’t overuse straw men. The tactic is a stretch of the truth, if not an outright lie, to gain power in the negotiation. If you use it repeatedly and the counterparty figures out the pattern, your straw men will become ineffective; worse, they’ll label you as dishonest and manipulative.
One defense against the straw man tactic is to return the favor. The buyer might say, “You’re taking the washer and dryer to your new home? Well, I would like the Sub-Zero fridge” (you really don’t, but it’s a tactic to get them to reconsider their position on the washer and dryer). Give them alternatives: “If you leave the washer/dryer, it will be so much less work.” Or: “You need more time to decide? How can I help you reach the decision more quickly?” You can also ask questions about motives and call their bluff: “Were you really planning to take that old washer and dryer to the new house? The new ones are so much better.”
No doubt you’ve experienced this one in your personal life if not in your professional one: An unexpected twist in the negotiation throws you off guard and switches you from relying on facts to reacting based on emotion. From there, concessions can be more easily forthcoming!
In an otherwise smooth discourse, the counterparty suddenly shifts the message or tactics, bringing up new information or displaying a surprising new behavior in hopes of arousing an emotional response or reaction from you. You’re caught off guard and often put on the defensive. You see this tactic in TV courtroom dramas all the time.
Don’t Be Surprised
Expect a certain amount of surprise, and try to “see” your way through it in advance. Mentally prepare yourself for surprises by visualizing your response and your efforts to redirect the focus back to the negotiation. A surprise that you anticipate and deal with effectively isn’t a surprise.
Let’s reverse roles and make you the person taking your counterparty by surprise. You throw out a surprise negotiating point (“Did you know that we’re about to make the last production run on the widget you’re looking to order?”) or show a little frustration or anger about a point that she’s making. The intent is to break her concentration, put her on the defensive, knock her off balance, or even put her into a panic if she really depends on your widgets. Once her guard is down, it will be easier for you to ask for what you want, if for no other reason than to put the negotiation back on track. This tactic is particularly effective in the case of conflict avoiders.
If someone tries to take you by surprise:
• Do not react. Since that’s exactly what the other party is hoping for, do not give in to the ploy. Stay calm and show your professionalism.
• Take a break. Give yourself time to cool off or to let the new information sink in.
• Ask for details. Learn as much as you can about the new information you’ve just been given, and determine if it’s truly something to be worried about.
• Call for help. If the other party introduces new information to the negotiation and you’re not prepared to handle it, convene your team to discuss how to handle the new information.
Dealing with a Surprise Absence
Sometimes the surprise can take the form of the absence of a critical counterparty team member or supervisor. The team sends another person to take his place. This new person may then (intentionally or unintentionally) wear you out with requests for information and to be brought up to speed. The hope is that you’ll be thrown off balance or even induced to “help” this replacement—and be more likely to give concessions just to get things going again.
When this happens, keep your composure and stay focused on the goals and main points of the negotiation. Focus on the process, not the people. If necessary you can suggest waiting until the original negotiator is available again. Don’t let unplanned absences put you off guard.
Add-ons and nibbling are two commonly used tactics you’ll see over and over. An add-on is a small incremental point or concession that a negotiator adds to the end of a larger concession that’s already being discussed. For example, “I’ll buy your product if you throw in a free one-year warranty.” Nibbling is a variant of the add-on, usually saved for the end of the negotiation, the “one last thing” asked for after a mutually beneficial agreement is reached.
The tactic usually works and is used in both directions in the negotiation. It works because the size of the request is typically small enough that neither party wants to let it derail the agreement. In the case of nibbling, the timing is such that nobody wants to reopen the negotiation. Some negotiators are simply not happy unless they ask for and receive a couple of small concessions. Negotiate much with your kids? You’ll see a lot of add-ons and nibbling, some of which is ego driven—just the same as with adults.
Add-ons and nibbling are part of the game and can be used to make your win a little sweeter. However, like most ploys, they only work if used sparingly—if you add on heaps of requests, your counterparty will bolt and you may have to start over. Subtle and sweet is best; not too much or too obvious, and always with plenty of manners and grace. Don’t let add-ons or nibbling get in the way of the win-win.
Add-ons and nibbles can be calculated in advance or planned over-the-board as conditions warrant. If you sense from your preparation or from the early stages of the negotiation that the counterparty is wary of giving one-year warranties, save that point for the end or add it to a larger concession you’re making. Doing so will preserve the win-win feeling.
The best defense is to recognize the add-on or nibble for what it is—a ploy and an adjunct to the main agreement designed to bring a little more satisfaction to the other party. Evaluate it quickly, and if it’s not too costly for you, go ahead and accept the add-on as a cost of doing business, part of the price for achieving the win-win. If the add-ons and nibbles get too large or numerous, call out your counterparty, and get him to back off. Don’t be afraid to request to stop and re-enter the negotiation if necessary. You can also throw a few add-ons and nibbles of your own into the fray.
Some Concessions Are More Equal Than Others
Just because a concession sounds small or comes up as a minor amendment at the end, don’t assume that it is. Take the time to appraise it objectively—don’t let the emotional need to preserve the deal or conclude the negotiation force you into oversized add-on or nibble concessions. Keep to your agenda, goals, and objectives.