Negotiate Without Fear

6Make the First Offer and Craft a Compelling Message

Now that you are well prepared, you are ready to begin the negotiation. This leads to a critical strategy question, though. Should you make the first offer, or should you let the other side go first? This is one of the most hotly debated questions in negotiations, even though there is very clear research indicating that the best strategy is to be well prepared and make the first offer. In this chapter, we will review the findings and provide clear evidence that you should make the first offer.

There is a lot of unfounded fear around making the first offer. People are afraid that they will offend the other side or cause the other party to walk away. This fear often causes negotiators to let the other side lead, and this saddles them with a tremendous disadvantage in the negotiation. This anxiety stems from a misunderstanding of what the first offer will include. As we discussed in Chapter 2, the offer should include many Storytelling and Tradeoff Issues, not just one single Contentious Issue.

In this chapter, we will discuss the importance of including a full package of issues in the first offer. The offer should also have a rationale that focuses on addressing the other side's needs or problems; the rationale should not focus on what you want but instead focus on the other side. When I go to the table with a package of issues focused on addressing the other side's needs and a story about how my differentiators will address ...