How to Coach Yourself and Others Influencing, Inter Personal and Leadership Skills | Page 64

Negotiation strategies using the Six Laws of Persuasion include the following:
1. Law of Reciprocity
Limited disclosure/confession of the real reason for a negotiation stance, such as “this is
all the money we have,” can provoke a concession from the other party. (This is often
seen in salary/promotion negotiations.)
Concessions in general follow this “tit-for-tat” rule (the lower the “value” of the
concession on your part, of course, the better).
You can also use this law to appeal to fairness. For example, if the other party
manipulates the physical environment by requiring that your team sits facing the sun, at
the next meeting they should reciproca te.
2. Law of Commitment and Consistency
An example of this tactic would be using a series of questions to conduct the step-bystep close. Dale Carnegie, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, called this, “Get
the other person saying ‘yes, yes’ immediately.” This occurs when one party asks the
other side to make a number of “small” decisions that lead to only one obvious
conclusion: to accept the general concession. You could employ this principle by asking a
potential client if she values quality in your product or service. Of course the only answer
would be “yes.” Then you could follow with a question that begs the obvious: “We’d love
to provide you with this product/service, but if we don’t get the resources we need from
you (i. e. sufficient money) and quality suffers as a result, would you still want it?” How
can the prospect say “yes” to poor quality? This tactic makes it easier for you to ask for
additional funds.
You might also see an example of this ploy when lowballing (intentional last-minute
additions to what was originally a low price) occurs. Unscrupulous vendors might
attempt to make you psychologically “invest” in a product that you initially believe costs
less.
3. Law of Liking
This law is often seen in the strategy of “good cop, bad cop,” where one person in the
other negotiating party is clearly opposed to your objectives, but it appears that another
of their team members is “on your side.” This causes you to identify with and trust the
“good” team member, so you may find yourself agreeing to the other team’s concessions
and goals instead of your own. You can see this in situations where a salesperson
“battles” their supervisor to get you a “better” deal (of course this was the result they
wanted in the first place).
You might also apply this law to establish rapport up front when you are negotiating with
your own superiors or teams.
4. Law of Scarcity
The more time you spend with a salesperson, the more commitment he or she has to
make the deal. If you are under no time pressure and the other side is, you have the
upper hand.