What are the best practices for making and managing concessions?

1 Plan your concessions

Before you enter a negotiation, you should have a clear idea of what you are willing to concede and what you expect in return. You should also prioritize your interests and identify your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). This will help you avoid making unnecessary or excessive concessions that could undermine your position or value. You should also anticipate the possible concessions of the other party and prepare your responses accordingly.

2 Communicate your concessions

How you communicate your concessions can influence how they are perceived and received by the other party. You should always link your concessions to your interests and goals, and explain the rationale behind them. You should also avoid making concessions too early, too often, or too easily, as this could signal weakness or desperation. Instead, you should make your concessions conditional, contingent, or reciprocal, and ask for something in return. This will help you create value and maintain leverage in the negotiation.

3 Evaluate your concessions

After you make a concession, you should monitor and measure its impact on the negotiation. You should assess whether the concession was effective in moving the other party closer to your desired outcome, or whether it was ignored or exploited. You should also evaluate whether the concession was fair and balanced, or whether it created a perception of inequality or injustice. You should also be ready to adjust your concession strategy if the situation changes or new information emerges.

4 Learn from your concessions

Concessions are not only a means to an end, but also a source of learning and improvement. You should always reflect on your concessions after a negotiation, and identify what worked well and what could be done better. You should also seek feedback from the other party and from other observers, and incorporate their insights and suggestions into your future concession strategy. You should also celebrate your successes and acknowledge your challenges, and use them as motivation to enhance your negotiation skills.

5 Avoid common pitfalls

Concessions can also pose some risks and challenges that you need to avoid or overcome. Some of the common pitfalls of concessions are: conceding too much or too little, conceding on the wrong issues or at the wrong time, conceding without getting anything in return, conceding out of fear or pressure, conceding without verifying the validity or credibility of the other party's claims or demands, and conceding without documenting or confirming the agreement.

6 Apply best practices

Concessions are an integral part of strategic negotiations, and you need to master them to achieve your objectives and build rapport with your counterpart. By applying the best practices of planning, communicating, evaluating, learning, and avoiding pitfalls, you can make and manage concessions effectively and efficiently. You can also enhance your concession strategy by using tools and techniques such as anchoring, framing, labeling, trading, and bundling. With these skills and strategies, you can turn concessions into opportunities and create win-win outcomes.

7 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?