Pressure, pressure, pressure. Our lives are full of it. Every time we turn around, someone is trying to convince us that it is in our best interest to act NOW! While it is sometimes true that he who hesitates is lost, it is also true that he who is pressured by the fear of losing will often lose his shirt! One of the most common types of negotiation tactics is Pressure Tactics, and they have one goal: to convince you that your ship may be about to leave and you are not on it.
You don’t have to give in to pressure, especially if you know how to respond when someone applies it to you. Here, then, are perhaps the two most common pressure tactics, with suggestions on how to deal with them.
The Deadline
Most negotiations face the challenge of deadlines at some point, and sometimes they are even legitimate. For one thing, deadlines are the natural offshoot of production schedules. Often, a deadline can be set by something as simple as the departure time on your friend’s airline ticket. Deadlines can even be helpful in keeping the negotiation on track and eliminate the tendency to waste time on “bunny trails.”
But there are plenty of situations in which one party will assert a deadline in hopes of gaining an advantage. Does this sound familiar?
“I have to receive your order by noon tomorrow or I can’t keep your delivery schedule.”
Or:
“Look, we have gone over and over this. Decide by close of business or the deal is off.”
Knowledge and time are two of the most important sources of power in a negotiation. Deadlines limit your opportunity to gather information, develop options and seek alternatives. Often the opposition is only trying to keep you from finding out what they already know. So the best way to respond to a deadline is to:
Always try to offer reasonable alternatives, maybe something like this:
“Steve, I can see we may not get this worked out to our mutual satisfaction before you have to leave to catch your plane. That is an inconvenience but not a real disaster. Let’s see if we can’t get the basic outline done before you have to head for the airport. I bet we can make enough progress to finish out the details on a conference call next week.”
Be cool and confident. It is just one more problem in need of a solution. Find ways to work with or around the deadline. Don’t let the deadline become the issue that determines the direction of the negotiation.
Competition
This is one of the most obvious of all pressure tactics. Without a doubt, competition plays a big part in all sorts of human interactions. After all, the greater the interest there is in what you have to offer, the better the outcome will be. This is just common sense. When a seller can choose between many buyers, or a buyer can choose between many sellers, competition always insures that the person who is receiving all the attention can negotiate a great deal. For example:
“Honestly, Caitlin, I would love to do business with you, but the price on this software is just not quite competitive. I can order online from Technosaver and they will not only beat your price by 10%, but they will give me free shipping because my order is so large.”
And that’s how it works. Anytime there is the opportunity for competition, or anytime someone can create the illusion of competition, the other side will be under pressure to make concessions or walk away from the deal altogether. If you are on the other side of this equation, you will need to start asking questions. Find out as much as you can about what the competition is really offering. Is it really the same product with the same quality? Is there any wiggle room in things like payment terms or packaging? Find a way to neutralize what the competition is offering by providing value somewhere else. Here is a good way to respond if you are Caitlin:
“Jesse, there is no doubt that Technosaver will kill me on price alone. I can make a small concession there, but not enough to get into that ballpark. But what kind of support are they offering you? Once it is out of the box, do you have the training and trouble-shooting resources to get that up and running? They are two time zones away and I am just down the street. I can sure make your conversion and burn-in phase a lot smoother than they can. Shouldn’t that be worth something?”
There you are. Ask a few questions; offer something else of value, and often that threat of competition can be neutralized. Again, stay focused on finding a solution that gives something of real value to all parties involved.
Re-Print Permission
This article may be reprinted in it's entirety if the following
conditions are met:
