Set Your Negotiating Deadlines -- and Know Theirs!

Just about the same time that the Japanese economy started to bloom in the early 80s, Herb Cohen, one of the world’s best negotiators, wrote a classic bestseller called You Can Negotiate Anything. In it, he told his story about his first encounter as a young negotiator with the Japanese.

Arriving in Tokyo for the two-week negotiation, he was met by two Japanese gentlemen who escorted him through customs and immigration and loaded him into a plush limousine. During the ride they asked him two questions. Do you speak Japanese? No. Would you like us to arrange your limousine back to the airport? Well, that would be nice, and he handed them his return ticket. Now they knew his deadline and he didn’t know theirs.

For the next ten days, Cohen’s Japanese hosts accompanied him on cultural tours, golf games and elaborate dinners. They even enrolled him in a course to help him understand Japanese culture and traditions. Whenever he brought up the negotiation, he was told there would be plenty of time. Discussions finally began on day 12, but were cut short for a golf game. They resumed on day 13, but were cut short again for the farewell dinner. Just when he seemed to be getting somewhere on day 14, Cohen’s limousine arrived and the final deal was cut in the back seat on the way to the airport.

How well do you think he did on that deal? Because they knew that Cohen wouldn’t allow himself to go home empty handed, the Japanese held off making concessions until the last minute. How did they get away with this? Again, they knew his deadline and he didn’t know theirs.

When you’re preparing for negotiations, setting a realistic deadline for yourself will allow you the time you need to establish your position with your counterpart. More importantly, finding out your counterpart’s deadline may give you an edge. Whoever has the tightest deadline is at a disadvantage if it’s known by the other side.

If you know that your counterpart is flexible about their deadline, you can begin planning some strategies in advance to get them to create one for themselves. Let them know that their delay tactics are not going to force you to soften your terms. Lead them to believe that further delay may even result in some of what you’ve already conceded being taken off the table. Send a subtle message that your last offer is preferable to no agreement at all.

Delay-busting tactics like these are useful, but you can only deploy them if you’re prepared in advance. Every negotiator has deadlines. To ensure that you’re adequately prepared, find out what they are.