How To Create Effective Negotiation “Get-Gives”

Of course, the goal in a sales negotiation is to resist providing concessions. Unfortunately, this isn’t always realistically possible. You may say to yourself, “Concessions are the cost for business.” However, this is not necessarily true if you can change the way that you provide concessions, instead of just going with the concept of quid pro quo – something for something.

Give and Take

If you have to give something up, ask for something in return. Why is this a better approach?

If you give up something without asking for something in turn, you embolden the buyer to keep asking for more. Rather than satisfying and assuring the buyer that it’s a fair deal, you inadvertently signal them that your concession has little value and that you’re still getting the better deal. If both parties get something, neither side will feel as if they’ve lost or taken advantage of. Win-lose situations become a mutual win.

Make a List

Prepare a list beforehand of gets that you would like to receive if trading concessions become necessary. These "gets" should be of significant value to you but of limited cost and/or risk to the buyer. Estimate the seller value, and the buyer cost and risk for each “get.”

Then, create a give list. This should include the concessions that you are willing to make. Similarly to the get list, your give list should be of limited cost to you, while of significant value to the buyer. Once again, estimate the cost to you and the value to the buyer.

Use your estimates to identify fair get-give exchanges that you can use during negotiations. Anything that is too costly to be included in your give list should be considered as not negotiable. Use your get-give and not negotiable sections of the negotiations preparation worksheet to capture your own get-gives and non-negotiables.