subpar?”- A calibrated question in reply to any offer other
than full payment, in order to get him to offer a
solution: “How am I supposed to accept that?” - If none of this gets an offer of full payment, a
label that flatters his sense of control and power:
“It seems like you are the type of person who
prides himself on the way he does business—
rightfully so—and has a knack for not only
expanding the pie but making the ship run more
efficiently.” - A long pause and then one more “No”-oriented
question: “Do you want to be known as someone
who doesn’t fulfill agreements?”
From my long experience in negotiation, scripts like this
have a 90 percent success rate. That is, if the negotiator
stays calm and rational. And that’s a big if.
In this case, she didn’t.
The first step—the magic email—worked better than she
imagined, and the CEO called within ten minutes, surprising
her. Almost immediately her anger flared at the sound of his
patronizing voice. Her only desire became to show him how
he was wrong, to impose her will, and the conversation
became a showdown that went nowhere.
You probably don’t need me to tell you that she didn’t