How do you prepare for a sales negotiation without giving away your BATNA?

1 Identify your BATNA

Before you enter a negotiation, you need to identify your BATNA and evaluate its value and feasibility. Your BATNA should be realistic, attainable, and preferable to a bad deal. For example, if you are selling a product or service, your BATNA could be another potential customer, a different market, or a new product line. To find your BATNA, you can research the alternatives available to you, compare them to your current offer, and rank them according to your preferences and goals.

2 Keep your BATNA private

Once you have identified your BATNA, you should keep it private and avoid disclosing it to the other party unless absolutely necessary. Revealing your BATNA can signal your willingness to walk away, which can either scare off the other party or prompt them to lower their offer or increase their demands. It can also reduce your flexibility and creativity in finding a mutually beneficial solution. Instead of revealing your BATNA, you can use it as a reference point to determine your reservation price and your target price, or the most desirable outcome.

3 Communicate your value

Rather than focusing on your BATNA, you should focus on communicating your value proposition and the benefits of your offer to the other party. You should highlight how your product or service can solve their problems, meet their needs, or create value for them. You should also emphasize your unique selling points, your competitive advantages, and your credibility and reputation. By communicating your value, you can build rapport, trust, and interest with the other party and increase their willingness to cooperate and compromise.

4 Explore their BATNA

While you keep your BATNA private, you should also try to explore the other party's BATNA and understand their alternatives, interests, and motivations. You can do this by asking open-ended questions, listening actively, observing their behavior and reactions, and researching their background and market conditions. By exploring their BATNA, you can gain insights into their reservation price, their expectations, and their pain points. You can also use this information to tailor your offer, address their objections, and propose value-added options.

5 Negotiate creatively

Finally, you should negotiate creatively and seek to expand the pie rather than divide it. This means looking for ways to create value for both parties and satisfy their interests rather than focusing on positions or demands. You can do this by identifying common goals, finding trade-offs, offering concessions, and brainstorming solutions. By negotiating creatively, you can increase the chances of reaching a win-win outcome that exceeds your BATNA and the other party's BATNA.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?