Make Deals Like an FBI Negotiator
Identify Your Negotiation Style – and Your Counterpart’s
Negotiation styles—assertive, accommodating, and analytical—reflect our tendencies, and successful negotiators like Chris Voss advocate for blending these approaches to enhance interactions and outcomes, emphasizing the importance of tone and foresight in achieving mastery.
Get the Reasons You Won’t Make a Deal Out of the Way
In negotiations, addressing and preemptively diminishing your counterpart's negative emotions through tactical empathy—by acknowledging their fears and labeling their concerns—can shift focus from potential losses to positive outcomes, as explained by Chris Voss.
Get Your Counterpart to Reveal Their Cards in Two Moves
Successful negotiation focuses on collaboration for mutual benefit rather than simply achieving "yes," with FBI negotiator Chris Voss advocating for starting with "no" to foster trust and open communication, ultimately leading to a more productive dialogue.
Leverage Language and Linguistic Cues
In negotiation, tone of voice significantly influences collaboration and outcomes, with expert Chris Voss highlighting techniques like mirroring and inflection, while emphasizing the critical role of the concept of "fairness" as both a strategic tool and a potential pitfall.
Gain the Upper Hand
To gain the upper hand in negotiations without threatening the other party, use questions starting with "What" or "How" to create the illusion of their control, fostering empathy and clarity while establishing your limits gradually.
Take the Long View
In this video lesson, Chris Voss emphasizes that slowing down negotiations can lead to better outcomes by fostering effective communication, strategic concessions, and relationship-building, ultimately avoiding unproductive conversations and costly mistakes.
High-level negotiators at organizations such as the FBI treat negotiation as a science, complete with a consistent set of rules. According to former FBI negotiator Chris Voss, anyone can learn these rules to strike a better deal. And while no outcome is ever completely predictable, there are many ways of improving the odds.
Learning Objectives
- Use different negotiation styles to your advantage.
- Access “tactical empathy” to improve negotiating conditions.
- Get others to “reveal their cards.”
- Leverage linguistic cues.
- Negotiate with the long view in sight.