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Tactic # 12 - Good Guy/Bad Guy
Summary: Pretending to be on a counterpart's
side while consulting another party who keeps vetoing deal points.
The Good Guy/Bad Guy
technique is very similar to the tactic of the Higher Authority
but is much more specific. With Good Guy/Bad Guy, one person
pretends to be on your side and appears to help you make the deal. But
every time you strike a deal, the good guy marches off to the bad guy
for final approval. Naturally the bad guy will renegotiate the deal you
have worked out with the good guy. Anytime you get into this scenario
and do not expose the technique, you can end up with devastating
consequences.
Example
If you have ever bought a new car, most likely you
have experienced the frustration of being in a Good Guy/Bad Guy
situation. After you have test-driven the car, the salesperson takes you
into the closing room to draw up the initial deal. Since the salesperson
cannot approve anything himself, he marches off to the sales manager to
get the manager’s input on the deal. Then the salesperson returns and
says that you are close, but the original deal will not work. What is
scary is that dealerships go through this process whether your offer is
a good one or a bad one.
Counter
First, you can fight fire with fire. The last time I bought a new car, I
took my wife. Every time the salesperson went to the sales manager, I
took the deal to my wife (who was in the lobby) to review it. At one
point, when the salesperson told me he would have to raise the price of
the car five hundred dollars, I replied that we had a problem because my
wife said I couldn’t do the deal at the previous price unless I could
get the interest rate down another point.
Second, you can expose the technique. Tell your counterpart that you do
not appreciate the Good Guy/Bad Guy routine. I once told a
salesperson that if he did not have enough authority to make the deal,
he should bring in someone who did. I warned that the next time he left
the room, I would also leave. Keep in mind that if the salesperson needs
to get approval from the sales manager, he can make a phone call with
you in the room.
Ask the
Negotiator
Dear
Master Negotiator,
I'm in sales, so I'm involved in negotiations quite often. However, I
just recently got involved in becoming a landlord. In my rental, I have
made a policy that if somebody smokes or has a pet, that their deposit
will double. I have a prospective renter who told me that he smokes, but
will be quitting within the next week or so. I want to trust the guy,
but I still want to make sure that I have enough of a deposit to clean
up the rental unit of any damage caused by the smoking if he does
continue to smoke. How do I go about negotiating a higher deposit
without calling him a liar? Your help is appreciated.
Best Regards,
Ray
Dear Ray,
This is a great strategy by the tenant. "I'll quit. Trust me on this
one." Your thoughts about doubling the deposit are right on target. Tell
the tenant you are grateful that he is going to quit smoking. What you
are willing to do is this. The double deposit still needs to be paid.
But, at six months, if you do a property inspection and he has quit, you
will refund back one-half of the smoking deposit. At the one year
inspection, if he has not smoked in the house, you will refund the
second half of the smoking deposit. Check with you state and local laws
to ensure a double deposit is legal. Just don't take the tenant's word
for it that he will quit. This is a hard habit to break.
Peter
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The Master Negotiator, Volume 2, Number
11 The Fifteen Rules Every Negotiator Must Know
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Negotiating Tactics of the Week
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