168 ◾ The Guide to Entrepreneurship: How to Create Wealth for Your Company
brinksmanship convinces the other party they have no choice but to accept
the offer and there is no acceptable alternative to the proposed agreement.
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Bogey: Negotiators use the bogey tactic to pretend that an issue of little
or no importance to him or her is actually very important, and then use
that ruse to get concessions.
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Then, later in the negotiation, the issue can
be traded for a major concession of actual importance. The problem with
the bogey is that it is deliberately deceptive and not effective for long-term
relationships. It erodes trust for future negotiations and leaves the party
using the bogey with a dishonest reputation.
Chicken: Also known as playing chicken. Negotiators propose extreme
measures, often bluffs, to force the other party to chicken out and give them
what they want. This tactic can be dangerous when parties are unwilling to
back down and go through with the extreme measure. This dangerous tactic
can easily degenerate into an impasse, stalemate, or deadlock.
Defense in Depth: Also known as phantom negotiator. Several layers
of decision-making authority are used to allow further concessions each
time the agreement goes through a higher level of authority. In other words,
each time the offer goes to a decision maker, that decision maker asks to
add another concession in order to close the deal. For this reason, it is
recommended that you negotiate with your counterpart’s decision maker.
Deadlines: Give the other party a deadline forcing them to make a decision.
This method uses time to apply pressure to the other party. Deadlines given can
be actual or articial. Deadlines work well when buying a car or in real estate
transactions, but are very treacherous in a business negotiation setting.
Flinch: Flinching is showing a strong negative physical reaction to
a proposal. Common examples of inching are gasping for air or a vis-
ible expression of surprise or shock. The inch can be done consciously
or unconsciously. The inch signals to the opposite party that you think
the offer or proposal is absurd in hopes the other party will lower their
aspirations. Seeing a physical reaction (body language) is more believable
than hearing someone saying, “I’m shocked.”
Good Guy/Bad Guy: Also known as good cop/bad cop. The good guy/
bad guy approach is typically used in team negotiations where one member
of the team makes extreme or unreasonable demands, and the other offers
a more rational approach. This tactic is named after a police interroga-
tion technique often portrayed in the media. The “good guy” will appear
more reasonable and understanding and, therefore, easier to work with. In
essence, it is using the law of relativity to attract cooperation. The good guy