Module 2 · Chapter 7

How to Trade Concessions in a Negotiation, Not Give Them

Every point you give up should buy something back. This chapter shows how to trade each point for another, keep every point open until the whole deal is agreed, and record each move.

≈ 8 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • How a point given away for nothing was tied back into a trade
  • Why nothing is agreed until everything is agreed
  • How to move in small steps, and then wait for the other side

7.1Trading concessions in one paragraph

A move is any new offer by either side. What a move gives up is a concession, such as a lower price or a longer contract. A concession given for nothing is simply lost, and the other side still wants more. So each concession is offered as a trade: if you give us this, then we give you that.

Polgarrow planned its trades before the talks began. When one slipped out for nothing at a meeting, its lawyers tied it back into a trade.

Key point

Give a concession only in return for something you need. Settle no single point until the whole deal is settled.

Also in this chapter

  1. A concession given for nothing
  2. “If… then”: every concession is bought
  3. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed
  4. Move in small steps
  5. One move, then wait for theirs
  6. Your job

Preview

The rest of this chapter opens with a free account. Every edition is free to read until 31 January. Open a free account by the end of that day and keep every edition published by then, for good. Open it from the edition home →