𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗼-𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

Yesterday I wrapped up a negotiation in 15 minutes.

Target achieved, supplier smiling, team relieved.

I should have been happy.

Instead, that little voice:

“𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 ‘𝘺𝘦𝘴’ 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵… 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘸?”

This is where most negotiators get it wrong.

They do one of two things:

1️⃣ Beat themselves up for days.

2️⃣ Reopen the price and destroy trust.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

If the deal meets ambitious objectives you defined in advance, then a quick “yes” is not a problem. It’s a gift: you just saved time, energy, and internal pain. Celebrate and move on.

But if the frustration is real because your objectives were not bold enough, don’t attack the price.

At innes we go back to our 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

Not our concessions.

Our options: the extra elements you prepared to 𝘢𝘥𝘥 value once your basic deal is accepted:

• extra training sessions

• a stronger reference / case study

• an extended warranty or service level

• a pilot in another country or business unit

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬:

𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴?

👉 the problem is rarely the “yes was too fast”.

👉 the problem is walking into the room with no room for manoeuvre prepared.

𝐈𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 — 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘰-𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 “𝘺𝘦𝘴” 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 🤔

#Negotiation #Procurement #SupplierManagement #CommercialNegotiation #ValueCreation #S2C #CognitiveBias #B2B