More on negotiation
24 Aug 2009
Use only two or three strong points at most for not agreeing to a concession.
There is often a temptation to give as many reasons as possible as to why you cannot agree to a concession that is being demanded of you. That is usually a mistake because two or three at most will be really strong reasons for you to decline. The rest will have been included in the hope of strengthening your argument.
A good negotiator will ignore your strong reasons and go straight to your weakest points. When they destroy those reasons, they will put you in a position where it is difficult to go back and start talking about the stronger ones. Keep to the two or three most powerful reasons why you cannot comply with a request for a concession and be sure you can support those reasons.