Negotiation tactics ...

[Montello]

Why do some people think that leaving a long pause in the middle of a negotiation is a good tactic ... on the grounds of who speaks first loses / shows weakness ??

It's just annoying, wastes time and makes me want to take a harder stance ...

[R0bertb00th]

One of the first things I learned in sales was the golden silence -
https://lifehacker.com/how-a-use-the...ati-1847477943

The best example of it working I ever heard was this

Mention the name Seth Johnson to anyone and they will almost certainly tell the same story about his contract at Leeds United.

The legend goes that Johnson, earning around £5,000 a week at Derby County, went into negotiations with Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale hoping for an increase to around £13,000 a week.

Ridsdale, however, offered £30,000, and then immediately upped that to £37,000 when his opening gambit was met with stunned silence.

[GraniteQuarry]

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

[adrianw]

Isn’t it all about the win win scenario

If some idiot had a long pause I’d go for the presumptive close and say, was there anything else ?

[ryanb741]

I think an overly long pause is awkward for everyone but some sales people have the tendency to take any pause and get nervous as if it is a bad sign and then blurt out words (often adding more to a deal) without it being necessarily.

But if you said 'the contract is £500k per year' and then didn't say anything for a minute it would look terrible.

Best to say something on the lines of 'sure, with regards to pricing we are looking at £500k per year. How does that sit with you?' That way it is clear that the other party is expected to give their feedback next.

[Fullbreakfast]

The supply chain manager at a company I used to work for, one of the biggest arses I've met in a long career which has featured many arses, wrote a "negotiation manual" which he distributed internally, featuring a bunch of different gambits and tactics each of which had a special name. A comedy classic which I still have a printed copy of somewhere. I am sure this featured the use of meaningful pauses and distinctly remember the line: "Become very grim". I think that was part of the gambit dubbed "The Atomic Bomb".

I still have to do negotiation, but if I do pause for a notable period it's probably because I've forgotten what I was going to say, or because one of my kids is vomiting on my feet.

[Montello]

One of the first things I learned in sales was the golden silence -

Trouble is everyone has read that and you just end up all in silence no one wanting to be the first to buckle ... its annoying.

In this instance I'm negotiating via email and the other guy seems to think waiting 2 weeks to respond to my messages is going to strengthen his point in some way but it's just winding me up ...

Text from your link ...


... it can be annoying and feel manipulative to the other party, especially if they’re aware of the tactic.

[Franky Four Fingers]

Why do some people think that leaving a long pause in the middle of a negotiation is a good tactic ... on the grounds of who speaks first loses / shows weakness ??

It's just annoying, wastes time and makes me want to take a harder stance ...

I really




























































Don’t have a clue


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[R0bertb00th]

I wasnt suggesting its right and totally hear you just saying its something thats been a tactic in sales for years

Trouble is everyone has read that and you just end up all in silence no one wanting to be the first to buckle ... its annoying.

In this instance I'm negotiating via email and the other guy seems to think waiting 2 weeks to respond to my messages is going to strengthen his point in some way but it's just winding me up ...

Text from your link ...


... it can be annoying and feel manipulative to the other party, especially if they’re aware of the tactic, personally hate dealing over email Im old skool and believe people buy from people

[Montello]

I wasnt suggesting its right and totally hear you just saying its something thats been a tactic in sales for years

Noted; I think it's effectiveness has passed as a result of overuse and it is now just annoying ...

[skmark]

There are tactics and there are applied tactics I guess. The 'silence', 'pause' or whatever you choose to call it was generally based upon the premise that the person speaking the least is always the one most in control in any conversation. This still holds weight as most humans talk too much and this usually get worse in any stressful or challenging situation.....like negotiations.

Like any tactics however, the subtlety comes in the application.....or lack of subtlety it seems here. To make it worse in your situation of course is the communication not being face-to-face but electronic.

It may however, not even be a tactic......these days people can just be pretty rubbish at simple common courtesy in any communication, like just getting back to you.

If you actually want 'the thing', then just forget about tactics and contact them, just hold strong on what you think its worth. If you don't then forget about it and move on. Good luck.

[wileeeeeey]

Going through something very similar at the minute and the other side have pretty much ceased contact. I get it as a negotiation tactic but after a certain amount of time it just torpedoes the whole thing.

[Fullbreakfast]

In this instance I'm negotiating via email and the other guy seems to think waiting 2 weeks to respond to my messages is going to strengthen his point in some way but it's just winding me up ...

Could be he is just overworked / disorganised / a lazy twat.

I'm currently working on a deal where the other side took just under a year to respond to the first draft of our contract. It is going to happen, though. They had other priorities, but it's now time for them to do it.

[noTAGlove]

I recommend never applying this tactic when negotiating with the missus.

[reggie747]

I recommend never applying this tactic when negotiating with the missus.

Shouldn't really be in the same sentence........

[prexelor]

I’ll try the stunned silence the next time I am at the AD being told I can’t have a watch. 😂

[Mj2k]

Shouldn't really be in the same sentence........

She should just know lol.

When I was a buyer for a retailer and the sales person just went silent, I often just left the meeting room & left them to show themselves out.

Better than silence is not even being there. If I want a promo on cereals / confec / beans etc, there are many manufacturers to work with. Confec being the worst as 3 players all scrabbling for market share, if someone won’t give a good deal, the others would.

[Bobbyf]

If you actually want 'the thing', then just forget about tactics and contact them, just hold strong on what you think its worth. If you don't then forget about it and move on. Good luck.

In my simplistic world, this seems the straightest way to do business to me. I couldn’t be bothered with manipulative tactics and tricks to get the deal or massage my ego.
I’m pleased I’m not in sales, I know I’d be useless.


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[blackal]

I've been fortunate in being able to turn down contracts, and managed to portray that to potential clients.

Offered contracts by phone and on hearing the dayrate - "I'll pass thanks, but wish you all the best with the contract"

Can't be bothered with 'horse-trading', and they usually realise that 'somewhere in the middle' won't cut it.

A friend of mine in much the same business was at an interview and the interviewer kept skirting around the dayrate.

When my friend eventually got him to state the dayrate, he responded with a tilt of the head and "I didn't realise it was part-time............."

No qualms about rejecting it.

[NickGaters]

In a previous role I owned the commercial relationship with one of our clients. it was probably an 8M/year account and they thought they were big fish, which they were....5 years previously. Now the average for my accounts ended up being about 20M/year.

Anyhow, because they thought they were big fish they were awful to deal with. Utter turds; reneging on previous agreements, no thought of a win win negotiation ever, lying about what had been agreed etc. it was all about screwing us every time. We'd tell them what the cost price was sometimes and they'd still demand 20% less.

Their best negotiation tactic was to go nuclear on calls (in those days it was teleconference only), and then go silent waiting for me to fill the silence. Only I got wise to this very early on. It became an olympic sport for me to fight silence with silence. I'd even hold the mic next to my keyboard and just type loudly to make it clear I'd moved on. I think my record for silence was about 4 minutes before they checked I was still there.

My much bigger accounts were a breath of fresh air to deal with in comparison. Proper hard negotiation while recognising there was a red line I couldn't cross and we both needed to come out of it with a win. Mutual respect, focused yet inoffensive conversation works wonders. Death by silence = absolutely not. It's a child's tactic.

[KavKav]

Another sales gem worthy of note is if you have just got a customer to agree a sale/contract, SHUT UP!
Seriously, if you keep jabbering on, you could lose the business if you push the customers ‘irrit level’ too high.