Concession strategy in business negotiation

Concession strategy refers to the negotiation strategy that one or more parties take at the expense of giving up some interests in order to promote the success of the negotiation when two or more parties have a dispute over a certain interest.

(1) in place for the last time. This is a more firm way to make concessions. Its characteristic is that in the early stage of the negotiation, no matter what the other party said, we always insisted on the original offer and were unwilling to make any concessions. At the end of the negotiation or when necessary, it made great concessions. When the other side wanted to make concessions, we refused to make concessions again. This kind of concession will often make the other side feel that they lack sincerity, which will easily lead to deadlock in the negotiations and may even lead to the failure of the negotiations. So this concession can be summarized as "adventure".

(2) balance. This is a way of making concessions round by round with equal or nearly equal amplitude. The disadvantage of this method is that the requirements and efforts of the other party are met every time, so it is likely to stimulate the desire of the other party to make endless concessions and make unremitting efforts to obtain further concessions. Once the concession stops, it is difficult to convince the other side, which may lead to the suspension or breakdown of the negotiations. However, if the two sides negotiate several rounds of prices for a long time, this "stimulating" concession method can also show its superiority, and each round makes a small and stimulating concession. Delaying negotiations for a long time will often make the negotiating opponents bored and retreat without attacking. Therefore, this concession can be called "stimulus".

(3) increase. This is a way to increase the scope of concessions round by round. In the actual price negotiation, we should try our best to avoid this kind of concession, because the result of doing so will make the other party's expectations bigger and bigger. After each concession, the other party will not only feel dissatisfied, but also think that it is weak, thus fueling the negotiation momentum of the other party and inducing the desire of the other party to make greater concessions, which is likely to suffer a big loss. This concession can be summarized as "induction".

(4) decreasing. This is a way in which the concession range decreases round by round. The advantages of this method are: on the one hand, the concession is getting smaller and smaller, which makes the other party feel that they are trying their best to meet their demands, and it also shows that their position is getting tougher and tougher. At the same time, it implies that although they are still willing to compromise, the other party has reached the limit and will not give in easily; On the other hand, there seems to be room for the other party, so that the other party always holds the hope of continuing the transaction. Therefore, this concession can be called "hope type".

(5) Limited concessions. The characteristics of this concession method are: first, make huge concessions, and then the scope of concessions will be reduced round by round. The advantage of this method is that it not only shows the sincerity of negotiation and our strong willingness to compromise to the other party, but also subtly implies to the other party that we have done our best and made the greatest sacrifice, and it is almost impossible to make any further concessions, thus showing our firm position. This method can be called "compromise".

(6) Give in quickly. This is a clever and dangerous way to make concessions. The concessions made at the beginning were huge, but in the following negotiations, they stuck to their position and didn't make any concessions, which made their attitude change from sudden softness to sudden hardness, and at the same time made the other side turn from joy to sorrow and from sadness to joy, which was very chaotic. The initial huge concessions will greatly improve the expectations of buyers, but the subsequent unyielding and the last round of small concessions will soon offset this effect. This is a very clever way to suggest to the other party that further bargaining is futile. However, this method itself has certain risks. First of all, the huge expectations of the other party have been dashed in a short time, which may make it difficult for the other party to adapt and affect the smooth progress of the negotiations. Secondly, the huge concessions made at the beginning may make the seller lose the opportunity of high-priced transactions. This way can be called "dangerous".

(7) Retreat for progress. This way represents a more peculiar and ingenious concession strategy, because it manipulates the other side's psychology more forcefully and skillfully. The first round of big concessions, the second round of concessions reached the limit, but the third round arranged a small rebound (of course, the other side would not accept it under normal circumstances), and then the fourth round pretended to be forced to make concessions, with ups and downs. The actual total concession range did not change, but the other side got a psychological satisfaction. This way can be called "cheating".

(8) One-off. This is a relatively inferior way of concession. At the beginning of the negotiation, it will not only greatly raise the expectations of the other side, but also leave no room for itself. It is inflexible to completely refuse to make concessions, and it is easy to bring the negotiations to a deadlock. This concession can only be called "inferior".