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How To Get In The Mind Of Your Negotiation Counterpart
We all make decisions off emotion. It’s our negotiation Achilles heel.
Emotions control us. They take over our brains like an invading alien attack. The difference is, when it comes to your emotions, you have no idea it’s happening.
As Daniel Kahneman remarks in his book Thinking Fast and Slow,
“We are blind to our own blindness.”
For a successful negotiation, you must get in the mind of your counterpart before the negotiation begins.
You must become intimate with your counterpart’s emotions. It’s what Chris Voss calls the Accusation Audit. It’s a preemptive tactic where you hypothesize what the other side may be thinking.
Once you’ve identified these emotions, you then address these thoughts before your counterpart can voice them.
You remove the stinger before it has a chance to sting you.
Once you think about the emotions of your counterpart, it will help you empathize with them. It enables you to see what they see — so you avoid being distracted by your feelings.
