\u201cTypically, negotiation experts will tell you to prepare by making a list: your bottom line; what you really want; how you\u2019re going to try to get there; and counters to your counterpart\u2019s arguments.
\nBut this typical preparation fails in many ways. It\u2019s unimaginative and leads to the predictable bargaining dynamic of offer\/counteroffer\/meet in the middle. In other words, it gets results, but they\u2019re often mediocre.
\nThe centerpiece of the traditional preparation dynamic\u2014and its greatest Achilles\u2019 heel\u2014is something called the BATNA.
\nRoger Fisher and William Ury coined the term in their 1981 bestseller, Getting to Yes, and it stands for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Basically, it\u2019s the best possible option you have if negotiations fail. Your last resort. Say you\u2019re on a car lot trying to sell your old BMW 3-series. If you already have another dealer who\u2019s given you a written offer for $10,000, that\u2019s your BATNA.
\nThe problem is that BATNA tricks negotiators into aiming low. Researchers have found that humans have a limited capacity for keeping focus in complex, stressful situations like negotiations. And so, once a negotiation is under way, we tend to gravitate toward the focus point that has the most psychological significance for us.
\nIn that context, obsessing over a BATNA turns it into your target, and thereby sets the upper limit of what you will ask for. After you\u2019ve spent hours on a BATNA, you mentally concede everything beyond it.
\nGod knows aiming low is seductive. Self-esteem is a huge factor in negotiation, and many people set modest goals to protect it. It\u2019s easier to claim victory when you aim low. That\u2019s why some negotiation experts say that many people who think they have \u201cwin-win\u201d goals really have a \u201cwimp-win\u201d mentality. The \u201cwimp-win\u201d negotiator focuses on his or her bottom line, and that\u2019s where they end up.
\nSo if BATNA isn\u2019t your centerpiece, what should be?
\nI tell my clients that as part of their preparation they should think about the outcome extremes: best and worst. If you\u2019ve got both ends covered, you\u2019ll be ready for anything. So know what you cannot accept and have an idea about the best-case outcome, but keep in mind that since there\u2019s information yet to be acquired from the other side, it\u2019s quite possible that best case might be even better than you know.
\nRemember, never be so sure of what you want that you wouldn\u2019t take something better. Once you\u2019ve got flexibility in the forefront of your mind you come into a negotiation with a winning mindset.\u201d
\nExcerpt From
\nNever Split the Difference
\nChris Voss & Tahl Raz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cTypically, negotiation experts will tell you to prepare by making a list: your bottom line; what you really want; how you\u2019re going to try to get there; and counters to your counterpart\u2019s arguments. But this typical preparation fails in many ways. It\u2019s unimaginative and leads to the predictable bargaining dynamic of offer\/counteroffer\/meet in the middle. …<\/p>\n