Negotiations
Training
When
They Ask for a "Favor"
Neutralizing
Tactics: The Moral Appeal
We've seen many
a dishonest
negotiator try to use collaborative
negotiations to their advantage to get the most out of another
party. Knowing full well that the other party does not believe in
adversarial
negotiations and is looking to reach a "win-win",
they use an approach that appeals to one's moral senses... "Help
a fellow out, will you?" In a sense, their approach is as follows:
I am dealing
with someone who is honest
and straightforward
They want to come up with a solution that both of us will see as
a win
I need to take advantage of their goodwill by appealing to their
moral sense to get more
When truly used
as a tactic (and not a legitimate appeal for help), it's a sneaky
tactic. Some opt to use it as a way to take advantage of an existing
relationship to get
more out of a negotiation.
Charlene: "What
we put in place offers
attractive pricing to have three T3 lines connected to your
offices in Downer's Grove, Springfield and Urbana. As you can see,
the numbers are what we discussed two weeks ago."
Helene: "Charlene,
you saw the quarterly numbers we posted earlier in the week. Our
management team
is taking a beating in the press since sales were not where they
needed to be. Can you help me out on the price? We're really in
a bind."
Here is where
questions once again help you get a better feel for why the other
party is making their request. Is Helene really going to be in trouble
if she agrees
to the price that she had earlier agreed to? What would truly
happen? What are some of the reasons behind her request?
Explain to the
other party why you can't make a
personal exception or detail the consequences of agreeing
to their request. One way to defuse a moral appeal is to use
the same tactic in return.
Charlene: "If
there was something I could do, I would, but my boss already got
on my case for lowering the price for someone else who was having
difficulties. We had earlier agreed
to the price."
Or
Charlene: "I
just don't have any room to move on the price. If I drop it any
further, our margins are going to dip below where they need to be
and then we'll end up in a similar situation. I want to help you
and the best way we can enable you to keep your hard-earned money
is to provide you with a good price on bandwidth to make your team
more productive. That is where you will save money."
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