Practical Negotiating: Tools, Tactics & Techniques

Tactics Defined

Tactics are behaviors—actions used by the negotiator to serve a purpose or to pursue an objective. Tactics can be verbal or nonverbal. As we pointed out earlier, the first rule in communication is that every behavior communicates. Whether we want it to or not, our behavior speaks louder than the words or tone we use. Have you ever developed a series of assumptions about a person just by watching him enter a room and shaking hands—even before he utters a single word? Prior to a negotiation, we make assumptions about the other person based on how easy it was to set up the meeting—his tone on the telephone; his receptivity and openness with information before the actual face-to-face meeting.

Tactics can work to strengthen the relationship or to intimidate, discourage, or even anger the other party. Tactics can be skillfully planned or allowed to just happen in the course of a negotiation. The tactics employed to strengthen the relationship and to ensure a win-win outcome are referred to in this book as win-win tactics, while those tactics chosen to intimidate or tip the power balance are called adversarial tactics. In this chapter, we describe win-win tactics. In Chapter 9, we address adversarial tactics and countertactics as well. There are some tactics that are clearly adversarial or win-win, while others are neutral or depend on the intention of the negotiator. For example, the Agenda tactic can be used to help both parties get their needs met or to produce a one-sided ...