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NEGOTIATION
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CHAPTER 7
7.5.4.1 Checklist for Closing and Agreeing
Important points to remember include:
• Decide where you intend to stop conceding.
• Which close is most appropriate?
• ‘Adjournment’ and ‘or else’ closes are higher risk than ‘concession’ and
‘summary.’
• If the close has been successful, list the agreement in detail.
• List points of explanation, clarification, interpretation and understanding.
• Try to prevent the other party leaving the table until an agreed summary has
been recorded.
• Get buy-in to the agreement.
7.6 TACTICS
Negotiating tactics are the short-term plans and actions employed to execute
a negotiating strategy. An understanding of tactics is important, particularly
since any counterpart is likely to employ tactics during the negotiation. They
are used to try and persuade a counterpart to endorse a position. A negotiator
must understand what type of tactics a counterpart is using. A word of caution
is in order here. Not all negotiating tactics are ethical.
Within your overall strategy, and knowing your counterpart, you may at various
points in a negotiation attempt different tactics. Tactics are all about how you
do things. Their aim is to assess and (if possible) remove your counterpart’s
‘padding’ or ‘bluff.’
Care should be exercised when using tactics. Some tactics will generate a
strong reaction in your counterpart; either one of panic or, with more assertive
negotiators, one of counter-aggression. In the European FMCG environment,
supermarket buyers are trained on the tactics presented further on (and more),
and use them against suppliers to generate discomfort, fear and confusion. The
mentality among ‘old-school’ European buyers is that their job is to empty all
their suppliers’ pockets every day and this approach is backed by hefty bonuses
for high performance in driving suppliers’ prices down. The result of the fear
and confusion caused by the use of tactics in every meeting is that the supplier
sales rep come to dread the meetings, and will consequently do everything
possible to keep them brief. The easiest way to achieve this is to accede to the
buyer’s demands.
It could be tempting to think such tactics are exactly what the procurement
environment needs – after all, suppliers should be happy to be allowed to do
business. However, just as in the decision on which strategy to adopt, it is
important to deploy tactical weapons that help to aim at long-term mutually
beneficial relationships with the right suppliers. The use of tactics may simply
cause antagonism and generate distrust.