Negotiation mastery is not about beating your counterpart at the game they want to play. It’s about succeeding in the game you want to play.
All negotiators are trained in the tactics: when pitched a price, you go back with a lower offer, right? But that’s rarely the biggest prize to be had, and it’s never going to win you the long game.
The Long Game:
A good chess player looks two or three moves ahead. A master looks six or seven. The good player focuses on taking pieces in early exchanges, and is stunned when these victories turn into a defeat. The master wins by playing a different game. They play the long game.
In all major relationships there is a long game to be played, and in most you’ll find negotiators fixed only on the next trade, driven by this month’s funding target, focused on this quarter’s sales. This is a gift for the master negotiator.
How to play it:
Your team must look 12-24 months ahead, be clear when the big value plays will be made, where the long game will be lost and won. They must be empowered and encouraged to balance the value of each tactical trade, with the potential to build up a strategic advantage, not just for the next big play, but the one after that, and the one after that.
You’ll know they’ve made the leap because they’ll zig when their counterparts expect them to zag, they’ll surprise them with unusual deals and innovative solutions, and consistently score strategic gains for tactical concessions. They will be mastering the long game.
PLAY THE LONG GAME: With any big relationship that you intend to continue for at least 12 months
PLAY THE SHORT GAME: When there’s no long-term value in the relationship, or your business is under real cash pressure