The Truth About Negotiating on the Phone

This Element is an excerpt from The Truth About Negotiations (9780136007364) by Leigh Thompson. Available in print and digital formats.

Practical strategies for building rapport on the phone, getting “in sync,” and negotiating more successfully.

When you negotiate on the phone, you lose kinetic and visual information feeds: you rely on linguistic cues and paralinguistic cues only. For this reason, people often have a harder time establishing rapport — the feeling that you’re “on the same wavelength.” If you find yourself negotiating on the phone, think about how to develop rapport with the counterparty. Here are some strategies…