Negotiation is a beautiful aspect of business. It’s both an art and a skill. More than anything, though, it’s a high intensity pop quiz on psychology.
To alleviate the many pains of back-and-forth negotiations, I’ve developed an approach I call “Backward Negotiation.”
The concept is simple…
Start with your desired outcome. Then move upward slightly to your “fair and acceptable zone.”
Within this zone, define the variables and list them out.
Make this your offer.
If the recipient has their “fair zone” in mind, they might align.
However, this isn’t as much of an offer as it is a test. It’s a test to see just how greedy the person will become.
Let them take control from here. The goal is to let them believe they can dictate the details.
Leave the setting and reset.
The next time you list out the variables make them more favorable to you.
As long as you have the overall leverage in the negotiation, you’ll find this to be an effective way to get what you want. The recipient should feel embarrassed for being too greedy after seeing a fair deal and you’ll have the control to tell them they had their chance.
At the end of the day, no one wants to work with somebody that only wants what’s best for themselves. The outcome of every negotiation should be for both parties to gain.
