Don’t ‘shoot down the middle’ of your negotiation.

Statistically, it’s recently been proven that ‘shooting down the middle’ gives the best possible chance of scoring a penalty in soccer. In this example, the objective is to score, the strategy is where you shoot. Solid, factual, information like this can be invaluable as it can reduce the inner conflict people feel when they need to make big decisions. The authority delivered from facts, data and research in this way is a powerful influencing technique – as denoted by Doctor Robert Cialdini.

Students of negotiation will hear lots of different (and sometimes conflicting) strategic advice to help them pursue their objectives – with over 150 different skills that can be used within the negotiating process, there’s a lot to choose from. The advice may include opening high, using the power of silence, and never accepting a first offer. I have my views on these, but that’s for another blog.

The vagaries of time, and a lack of practice coupled with early areas of success can narrow down and then mould our approach to commercial conflict. In short, we can become reliant on a few ‘favourite’ negotiation skills to help resolve our commercial conflicts – a bit like ‘shooting down the middle’.

The problem with this tactic in a footballing sense is that eventually, the goalkeeper gets wise to this approach. After a while rather than guessing whether to dive left or right, they stand their ground and make the save. In the same way, if you’re negotiating with the same counterparty regularly, be aware that good negotiators will look for patterns to profile your style, approach, and skills. It won’t take them long to develop countermoves to address your negotiation tactics.

Good negotiators (like good penalty takers) need to be tough on the objectives they set themselves (this is the, "what do I want to achieve") but flexible in the strategy they use (the "how I’m going to do it"). Too often I see people fall back on a small number of pre-learnt moves, putting more emphasis on the fixed strategy at the expense of the objective – resulting in a save, hitting the post or blazing the ball over the bar. Whilst you should have a plan before engagement, this also needs to be tempered with flexibility before engagement.  

In a footballing sense, you might also want to consider the situation before you take the kick – i.e. the conditions (that stuttered run-up might not be good in the wet), the score/time remaining (the pressure on success) or maybe the height of the goalkeeper (top left or right may be harder for them to reach). In the same way, a negotiator’s objectives might be influenced by new information, an early proposal made to you or a change of personnel within your counterparty.

In short, develop a plan which has objectives and a flexible strategy. Review the plan against external factors before engagement, determine which strategic approach will deliver the best chance of success and go for it.

The only caveat is if you’re taking a penalty against Jordan Pickford (if he’s still at Everton) then you need to miss the target! 😀

Sam Macbeth, 10th July 2024

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