Good morning and welcome to The Closer, the newsletter all about deals. Today’s edition is short and sharp — one tactic, backed by research, to help you negotiate smarter. No headlines, no noise — just a Nugget you can deploy by lunchtime.
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PERSPECTIVE-TAKING
BACKFIRE
Closer Tactic #65 • Deal Psychology
Most people think understanding the other side helps.
Sometimes it hurts your results.
The Nugget
Perspective-taking can reduce your own outcomes by making you too generous.
When AOL was negotiating content deals in the early 2000s, executives who deeply understood media companies' financial pressures often offered better terms than necessary. Research shows that negotiators who focus too much on their counterpart's perspective claim less value for themselves.
The key is understanding their position without adopting their interests as your own.
How to Deploy
• Understand their constraints without feeling responsible for solving them
• Use perspective-taking for information gathering, not offer setting
• Separate empathy (understanding) from sympathy (caring about their outcomes)
Avoid letting understanding turn into generosity that costs you value.
Takeaway
Understand their perspective, but don't negotiate from it.
Reply with a time being too understanding hurt your deal—
we might feature you (and send a mug).
