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| WHEN A PHONY TAN GOES TERRIBLY WRONG - An irrelevant image, but funny as heck, nonetheless. Besides... It's MY Blog. |
If you feel that you are losing your control or leverage in a difficult negotiation -- which can be due to personality clashes, too much familiarity, a need for a rest in order to process and clarify your thoughts -- perhaps it's time to pull the "switch". Don't continue to battle if you feel that your position is weakening.
Call in a well-briefed and qualified counterpart to take your place in the negotiation to refresh your advantage, and to throw the other side slightly off balance. This ordinarily requires some explanation - just be certain that whatever is said to explain the personnel change, that it is the absolute truth, even if it is a bit misleading.
Some of the best reasons are these:
1) This person has authority senior to mine;
2) This person has knowledge which I do not possess;
3) This person is more of your peer, and is more suitable for discussions about your subject on your level.
These are reasons that allow the negotiations to go forward peaceably, but without shame or loss of face on either side. In fact, if done artfully, your former counterpart will want you (personally) to come back to the table again because he or she misses the rapport which you had developed. This is the best outcome that a switch can create.
It re-empowers you, makes you look like a deal-saver, and tends to keep your counterpart in line for fear of having to deal with another stranger.
In applying this "switch" tactic, you will be using the natural propensity for people to gravitate toward what's comfortable and customary, i.e., the familiar, and your counterpart will likely move toward you, perhaps more agreeably than previously, out of the comfort associated with this very natural phenomenon.
Douglas E. Castle for The Sending Signals Blog and The Going Totally Rogue Blog (new)
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