Ten Well-tested Tips for Great Negotiation

1. Starting at the "Final Number" is almost always folly.

• "Reasonableness" in negotiation is almost always measured by how much you move, not how generously you start.

2. Being the First to Bid is usually advantageous.

• Contrary to popular opinion, the opportunity to "set the anchor" is more valuable than the opportunity to see where the other side starts.
  3. The optimal Opening Bid is the amount most favorable to your client within the rationally justifiable range.
   

• Going beyond that range, on the other hand, is a weak opening move. It puts the bidder in the position of then having to plummet to avoid an impasse.

4. Disputes tend to settle a little South of the Mid-Point of the first reasonable opening bids.

• Lesson: never honor an unreasonably extreme opening bid by making a reasonable counter.

5. The best way to avoid "caving in" is to "Negotiate from Principle"-- tie every offer to a meaningful rationale, and insist on the same from your opponent.

• Side benefit: this also reduces the number of "rounds" of offers and counters. There are a finite number of "plateaus" justified by principled rationales.

6. Knowing your own, and your opponent’s "BATNA" (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is your greatest source of focus and strength.
 

7. It is rarely wise to "bargain against yourself" by Moving Twice in a row.

• There are usually other ways to avoid impasse. Movement, on your part, should be reserved for one use: to reward movement from the other side.

8. Your "True Bottom Line" should never be revealed, even to your mediator.

• A good mediator will not ask you to reveal it, even in caucus.

9. Cooperative and Competitive bargaining are not mutually exclusive skills.

• Substantial research confirms the most effective negotiators do both, but emphasize the Cooperative negotiation approach.
   

• A pure competitive bargainer can never get value beyond a good opponent’s initial "true bottom line".

10. An effective "Cooperative Negotiator" will instinctively and systematically reap value for his or her client by:

• Separating people from the problem
   

• Turning substantive problems into process problems
   

• Cutting through positions to the interests underlying them
   

• Satisfying the opponent’s legitimate interests with options advantageous to his or her own client
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  Copyright (c) 2000 John J. McCauley. Permission to copy with attribution is hereby granted.