Turning options into proposals

You’re in a negotiation and have brainstormed your list of options you believe would be acceptable to both parties. It’s time to make a proposal. Here’s some guidance and language.

Proceed slowly.

Take your time.

Open by explaining how you believe there are many ways to meet both your interests. 

Describe the option you like best, in terms of why it meets both your interests. 

Describe the two or three next best options. 

Ask your negotiating partner which they prefer.

Sometimes, your negotiating partner will even start adding their ideas, brainstorming with you, in collaboration towards mutual objectives.

At any point, when and if you find your partner to be in an agreeable frame of mind, hit them with an “approvable proposal.”

The approvable proposal

An approvable proposal is one of your acceptable options stated as a direct question, to which yes is an easy answer.

“If I can straighten out the production bottleneck and increase productivity, would you be willing to give me a 20% raise?”

This proposal is conditioned on something the boss wants. 

Here is some language you can use:

Instead of this	Say this
I want this apartment pained by the time I get back from vacation.	Would you rather paint the apartment this week, or next month, when I’m out of town?
Give me the preliminary report by the 15th and the final no later than the end of the month.	If I give you to the end of the month to get the final figures, can you provide a preliminary report by the 15th?
No matter what you say, I’m not paying more than $200,000 for this house. How about it?	Assuming we can agree on the other terms and contingencies, I’m prepared to offer up to $200,000 for this house. Does that seem like a reasonable offer?

 Ok, Dan, you say...that’s nice in theory, but what if my negotiating partner is an opponent who won’t cooperate? Tune into the Daily Tip tomorrow.

Adapted from Messages, The Communications Skills Book, by Dr. Matthew McKay.