Seven Strategies for Better
Negotiation & Better Results
Michael T. Colatrella, J.D., LL.M
Director
Center for Dispute Resolution & Conflict
Management at Southern Methodist University
©2008
Common Negotiating
Mistakes

Leaving value on the table: Failing to recognize
value creating trade-offs

Settling for too little: Making unnecessary or
inappropriately large concessions

Walking away from the table: Rejecting an offer
better than their alternative

Settling for terms worse than their alternative:
Accepting terms less favorable than alternative
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The 7 Foundations of Effective
Negotiating







Preparation
The Parties’ Interests
Identifying Your Goals
Leverage
Alternatives
Reciprocity
Manage the Pattern of Concessions
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1. PREPARATION
Preparation is the most important part of the
negotiation process.
More than anything else it will determine your
success as a negotiator.
Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!
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Preparation: Your preparation
should be:

Simple—so you can remember it

Specific—because it’s more likely to be
attained

Flexible—to adapt to new information
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Preparation Process

You prepare for a negotiation by
considering each of the other
foundations of effective negotiation.

You should view the first part of a
negotiation meeting as a continuation of
the preparation process.
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2. IDENTIFYING THE PARTIES’
INTERESTS

Interests define the negotiation:
Positions are what you want.
 Interests are why you want it.


What are your interests?

What are the other party’s interests?
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Identifying Interests: Qualities of
Effective Negotiators:
 They
develop an ability to see the
world from the other side’s
perspective.
 They
ask twice as many questions
as an average negotiator.
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3. IDENTIFYING YOUR
GOALS
 Set
an optimistic, but justifiable,
goals.
 Be
specific.
 Carry
a summary of your goals and
expectations into the negotiation.
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4. LEVERAGE
“You can get much further with a kind
word and a gun than you can with a
kind word alone.”
--Attributed to American gangster Al Capone
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Leverage Defined

Leverage is your power to reach an
agreement on your terms.

Donald Trump says, “Leverage is
having something the other guy wants.
Or better yet needs. Or best of all,
simply cannot do without.”
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Types of Leverage

Positive Leverage: Having something the other
side wants or needs.

Normative Leverage: Objective sources that
legitimize your position. (precedent, market value,
professional standards, expert opinion, etc.)

Negative Leverage: Having the power to take
something away from the other side that they
already posses.
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5. ALTERNATIVES IF NO DEAL
IS REACHED
“Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
(BATNA)”
BATNA refers to how you will satisfy your needs
if no deal is reached with this party.
“The better your BATNA, the greater your
power.”
(*From the book “Getting To Yes” by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton)
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Alternatives: Improve Them

Explore and invent as many alternatives
as possible.

Improve them, if possible.

Consider what the other side’s BATNA
may be.
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6. RULE OF RECIPROCITY
“I am obligated to give back to you the
form of behavior you give to me.”
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RECIPROCITY: You Can’t Beat
Mother Nature
Reciprocity is found in every human
society because those early human
cultures that followed the “norm of
reciprocity” obtained an enormous
advantage.
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Reciprocity: The Secret of its
Success

When you operate under a system of
reciprocity, you feel free to provide
others with time, energy and resources
because you don’t give it away.

Instead, you get it as credit.
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Reciprocity: The Power of
Obligation

You create an obligation

The obligated party will not just want to
help, but will be waiting to help

The obligation lasts until fulfilled
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7. Managing the Pattern of
Concessions

The “pattern of concessions” refers to
the incremental, and often alternating,
concessions parties make in some
mediations to reach agreement

Parties often fail to reach agreement
because they mismanage the
concession-making process
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Concessions are
Communication

The nature of concessions says
something about a party’s future ability
and willingness to concede:

Magnitude of concessions

Timing of concessions
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Three Rules to Remember in
Managing Pattern of Concessions

Make opening offers that leave room for
concessions.

Explain the reasons for concessions.

Reciprocate concessions.
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Capitalizing on “No’s”
“If someone says “no” to you and you
retreat from the situation you lose, but if
you retreat in the situation you win.”
~Robert Cialdini, Ph.D
Influence
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