The Art of Negotiation - The Decoy Method

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When you are negotiating, things may get tricky pretty fast when your opposite party tries to play hard ball with you.

Not to worry.

What I’m going to reveal to you is a good method you can use to turn things around - fast!

Negotiators call this the ‘decoy‘ method. What in the blue hell is that?

Let me explain…

Say, you and the other guy is haggling over a profit sharing cut. You want to outsource a deal to him. He wants a 70% cut from the total revenue . You are only prepared to give him 50%.

So the profit sharing cut is the crucial factor here. If that is a major issue with him, you may not want to keep talking about it. At least temporarily. Because that may be likely to get you nowhere. So what do you do next?

Invent A Totally New Issue!

Yep. Cook up a new story. Throw a smoke bomb. Anything. Just divert his attention away from the real issue.

Tell him that he has to compete with 5 other rival outsource agencies. The one that gives you the most competitive rates will get your nod for the outsource deal.

Of course he is gonna be outraged and tell you that he is the real deal. He will do the best job. And you can’t go wrong with him.

Perfect. He bit the bait…

Now tell him, you are willing to give him the deal without him having to compete with other agencies PROVIDED he accept your 50% cut proposition.

It is gonna be difficult for him to refuse you because if he competes with others, he may end up having to offer a lower cut than what your proposed or worse, even lose the deal.

So chances he is going to accept your offer is now much much higher.

Of course on your side, the issue of asking him to compete with other agencies is just nothing but a distraction. You know that it is something he is not gonna agree to anyway. But you still come out with it nevertheless.

You then just do a trade off using this ‘fake’ issue with the real one that is important to you - the revenue cut.

That’s it. Simple yet effective negotiation technique.

As usual, let me know what you think about this. I can’t wait.

All Success,

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cooking up a stroy is a btter idea raher than waiting for the things to happen.

Very useful techniques! In order to get the best deal, one should have good negotiation techniques.

[...] pm on April 22, 2008 | # | Tags: blogs The Art of Negotiation - The Decoy Method When you are negotiating, things may get tricky pretty fast when your opposite party tries to play [...]

Very nice blog with interesting articles. I will continue reading this blog in the future.

I have to say I never really thought of or use this method. Next time I have a deal going down I will have to throw out the decoy and see how I can maneuver. I always hated bargaining and haggling but it is just a way of life!

Hi Sarah,

Try it. You never know when the decoy may come in useful.

And yes…bargaining can be a bitch…but knowing how to do so protects you and puts you in an advantage.

Jag

This is a very helpful post for someone like me, who absolutely sucks when it comes to negotiating. Will you be writing any more on the subject of effective negotiation?

Hi Creatine:

Yes. More posts on negotiation will be coming.

Check out for it.

Jag