Negotiations Training

Out to Lunch
Neutralizing Tactics: The Missing Person

Negotiations can sometimes slow down or simply take a wrong turn when it turns out that the person who needs to review any decisions or must sign off on an agreement is not around. Many a businessman has been frustrated by thinking that a negotiation was about to wrap up only to find themselves starting at a brick wall. Many of us have encountered this situation.

Chris: "Pat, I just wanted to follow up on the agreement we discussed yesterday afternoon. I hadn't seen a copy of the contract in our offices and wasn't sure if you had any questions on what we decided."

Pat: "Yeah, I had been meaning to call you. Sorry about that. You know, I really wish I could sign off on this but I have to have our Senior VP approve any expenditure as large as the one we discussed. Unfortunately, he is visiting family in Montana and can't be disturbed until he returns in two weeks."

Chris is in a tough spot. The contract was supposed to be in by the end of the month for the department to make their numbers for the quarter. The person who apparently can sign the contract is out of the office. Chris might have a tendency to drop the cost so that his client can sign off on the agreement... and it's possible the client knows this. Thus, the Missing Man can be awfully effective.

When people use the Missing Man technique, they try to play themselves off as the nice person, doing what they can to help you out while truly trying to get a better price, more agreeable terms or some other type of concession that they can pry out of the other party. This technique is similar to the good guy, bad guy: they really want to help out but, gosh, to sign off on something this big, someone else needs to be involved.

One easy way to counter this tactic is to have a clear understanding of who has signing authority before any negotiations take place. If someone higher up must approve a deal, that person should be included. What is the point of negotiating with someone who doesn't have authority to make decisions? One way to have this person involved is to ask the other party if they can set up a meeting that includes everyone. That allows them to feel like part of the process while bringing the right person to the table.

When faced with the Missing Man, questions can help you circumvent this tactic:

"Is there someone else in the organization that can sign off on the agreement?"
"Can you arrange for a meeting so that I can talk to that person about what we discussed?"
"How can we get that person involved so we can wrap up our discussions?"