Being a smart negotiator.

• Author: Freund, James C.
• Position: Exercising good judgement during business negotiations

Here are some principles to embrace, and pitfalls to avoid, in exercising good judgment at the negotiating table.

A basic skill of smart negotiating involves the most elusive of qualities -- good judgment. As a negotiator, you're called upon to make many difficult judgments:

* Should I stick on this point or fold?

* On another issue, can I press ahead, or am I better off easing up? What can I swap for what?

* Should I be the one to open the bidding, or do I wait for the other side to take the lead?

* If I don't want to wait, what should my opening offer be?

And so on. Loads of tough decisions, calling for lots of good judgment.

Experience is one important ingredient, but good judgment also requires the knack of analyzing situations, the courage to make concessions when they're called for and to stick with an unpopular position when it's necessary, the creativity to invent, the persuasiveness to sell effective compromises, and a dash of negotiating philosophy to season it all.

Good judgment in negotiating often comes down to keeping things in balance. The secret of effective negotiating is to achieve a functional balance between what you do to gain an advantage at your counterpart's expense and what you do to move the two of you closer to an eventual compromise.

If all your efforts are directed toward getting an edge on your adversary, the danger is that you'll come on too strong. Unless the leverage is completely skewed in your favor, this can cause irreparable harm, up to and including loss of the deal. On the other hand, if you don't push a little, if you never strive for advantages or stake out positions that invite rebuttal, then you're unlikely to attain what's within your reach. By seeking to avoid conflict, you simply whet your counterpart's appetite, inviting a flock of bold positions that can prove costly to satisfy.

So, stay in balance. Recognize that there's a time to go for the jugular and a time to relax the grip, a time to stand firm and a time to yield gracefully, a time to wrap things up and a time to keep then dangling. This does not mean, however, that the balance between what you do for yourself and what you do for "the deal" always has to be 50-50. Leverage and other factors dictate where to draw any particular line. Still, even when you're totally in the driver's seat -- or deep behind the eight ball -- you should attempt to strike a balance, albeit one that doesn't ignore the realities.

Carried to its extreme, the "nonnegotiable" style of bargaining flunks my principle of balance. Some movement is usually feasible -- at least cosmetic, if not substantive. Refusal to negotiate around the periphery of a complex point is less a valid technique than the absence of technique. A little flexibility along the fringes aids you in retaining the core -- and with less bruised feelings left in the wake of the bargaining.

The pace of a negotiation also ought to reflect a sense of equilibrium. There won't be a quick fix in a tough deal. The process has to run its course. People get nervous when things move too fast; they step back to reassess the situation. But too slow a pace creates its own problems, the delay...