{"id":12889,"date":"2022-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/no-basis-no-deal\/"},"modified":"2022-03-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T00:00:00","slug":"no-basis-no-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/2022\/no-basis-no-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"No basis, No deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cThe whole place stops when Johnny Chan walks in.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you play poker or like Matt Damon movies, you probably recognize that line from the film\u00a0Rounders<\/em>. It comes from a story that Mike McDermott (Damon\u2019s character) tells Joey Knish about when McDermott played against real-life World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan. The gist of the story is that McDermott was intent on proving to himself that he could play with the best in the world. He attempted to bluff Chan with nothing but \u201crags\u201d (i.e., he had no cards that would beat even the lowest paired hand). As it turned out, he held his ground and bluffed his way to winning that hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you think you could survive a bluff at the negotiating table?<\/p>\n

Bluffing at the negotiating table happens all the time. Bluffs range from little exaggerations (like slightly reducing or increasing the time on a deadline) to flat-out lies (like telling someone you have another vendor who\u2019s offering you a far lower price when you don\u2019t even have another vendor to speak of).\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not here to pass judgment on whether you should or shouldn\u2019t bluff \u2014 that\u2019s up to you. It\u2019s an ethical matter that can and should, be debated. Regardless of your position, just know that skilled negotiators know how to defend against bluffing (and, by extension, use bluffing to their advantage, regardless of whether they do so or not). For this post, I\u2019m going to discuss only how to reduce your chances of being taken advantage of by characters like Mike McDermott.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s recognize that there\u2019s an element of risk to bluffing. If your bluff is called, you could lose credibility, damage your reputation, or derail the negotiation to the point of deadlock. Even at the poker table, when we discover that someone\u2019s bluffing, we feel cheated, and our defenses go up. In business, the consequences are usually more severe than a feeling of being cheated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Secondly, bluffing is done in order to augment or disrupt the power balance of a negotiation. Usually, the party with more power doesn\u2019t have to rely on bluffing to get its way. That\u2019s not to say that they won\u2019t bluff; it simply means that when you have the majority of power, there are other, less risky methods at your disposal.<\/p>\n

Now, the real question becomes, \u201cHow do you recognize a bluff?\u201d I\u2019m sure we can go down a rabbit hole about micro-expressions and other physical tells, but the signs are actually easier to read than you might think.<\/p>\n

Bluffs usually occur around statements of time, money, or decision criteria. They\u2019re typically quantifiable. However, they\u2019re almost always based on something that only one party knows about. This is the critical characteristic of a bluff. After all, if everyone had insight into the data point, then it\u2019s an inane or very weak bluff!\u00a0<\/p>\n

When someone presents you with information that only they would know, it\u2019s up to you to consider if the information is real or you\u2019re being bluffed. The best way to do that is by curiosity and inspection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say someone tells you, \u201cWe need your price to be 20% lower\u201d or \u201cWe can\u2019t give you more than a 5% discount.\u201d These statements are designed to anchor the conversation and manage your expectations. They may be entirely accurate, but any skilled negotiator will want to verify the validity of the statements. That begins with asking questions like these:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Why?<\/strong>\u00a0Ask them why that\u2019s their position. You want to understand the logic behind the statement. Is it a policy issue, a precedent issue, or just what they say as their opening position?<\/li>\n
  2. What\u2019s the basis of that?<\/strong>\u00a0Ask them how they came to that position as you seek to understand the justification for it. Is there data that supports it? Is there an analysis that defends it? Or is it just a platitude used to throw you off?<\/li>\n
  3. Under what circumstances could it change?<\/strong>\u00a0Ask this question to determine if there\u2019s any flexibility in their position. If there is, then the statement isn\u2019t as firm as they want you to believe.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Skilled negotiators want to know the answers to these questions. They\u2019re not only listening to the context of those answers but also\u00a0how\u00a0<\/em>the questions are addressed. If the context isn\u2019t reasonable, then the other side might be bluffing. If the answer is nebulous, or unclear, or they seem to be grasping for a response, that\u2019s also a clue that they might be bluffing.<\/p>\n

    Before folding your hand or giving in, ask a few questions and verify their position. Armed with information, you can then decide if you\u2019re going to fold like Johnny Chan or call their bluff (or be like Mike McDermott and cash in). It\u2019s really up to you, but one thing is certain: We all want to be able to say, \u201cI sat with the best in the world . . . and I won.\u201d<\/p>\n

    We Can Help You Avoid Getting Bluffed at the Negotiating Table.<\/strong>Are you getting bluffed at the negotiating table? It happens all the time when someone presents information to you that only they would know. The question is, how do you detect and defend against it? We can help!\u00a0Drawing on nearly 50 years of real-world negotiating experience, we\u2019ll assist you with getting better deals, saving time, and creating value for all involved \u2014 not to mention preserving and even strengthening relationships. Let us partner you with one of our advisers, ensuring that you\u2019ve got the broadest view of your deal.<\/p>\n

    Talk to one of our experts today:<\/p>\n

    E: info@scotwork.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n

    P: 042979069<\/p>\n\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cThe whole place stops when Johnny Chan walks in.\u201d If you play poker or like Matt Damon movies, you probably recognize that line from the film\u00a0Rounders. It comes from a story that Mike McDermott (Damon\u2019s character) tells Joey Knish about when McDermott played against real-life World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan. The gist of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":12890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_legacy_url":"blog-nz\/2022\/no-basis-no-deal\/","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNo basis, No deal | Scotwork NZ Negotiation Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World leaders in business negotiation training and consultancy with experts across 120 countries, with negotiation courses taught in 29 languages.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/2022\/no-basis-no-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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