By James A. Baker · Founder, Baker Communications
Well, most likely what happened is that you got harpooned by what is called a NEGOTIATION TACTIC. Briefly, a tactic is a maneuver one side makes during the course of a negotiation in order to gain an advantage. Maybe they want to stall for time and get extra information; maybe they want to put pressure on you to close faster – and on their terms. Whatever the reason, the one thing most tactics have in common is that you never see them coming. You will be rocking right along, maybe you are already planning that trip to Aruba you are going to take with the bonus money you are earning on this deal and suddenly ? well, that gasping sound you hear is all the air going out of your lungs when you get blindsided by a simple tactic that could also let all the air out of the great deal you thought you had.
First, there are Pressure Tactics – consisting of maneuvers that play on the fear of losing the opportunity to close a deal, forcing someone to make unwise concessions. A deadline is a good example of a pressure tactic.
