The First Few Minutes Are Critical

Published: Oct 29, 2004

Application

Prepare yourself to begin a negotiation before the other side does. To ensure you are ahead, plan to set the tone of negotiations at the very beginning.

Deals are often won or lost in the first 15 minutes, even though subsequent sessions may cover many hours of argument. Negotiations might not be finalized in the first 15 minutes but, that's when the structure for the entire negotiation is setup.

When you know where you are going and can setup the other party's expectations, you start with tremendous power. Especially, if the other party does not know the game, or does not know s/he is involved in negotiations until s/he is in the middle of them, then the weakness of their position is more extreme.

Find out as much as you can about the other party and their circumstances. Find out who makes the decisions. Negotiate with the decision maker following similar research.