5 negotiation traps

We explore 5 negotiation traps, that are subtle but can prove to be a costly mistake that can derail your position before the real negotiation even begins. Whether you’re navigating client discussions, contract terms, or even your own career opportunities. These traps show up more often than we think.

1. Reciprocity trap

Times Square, NYC is a popular tourist attraction. During the summer you generally see folks dressed up as popular children’s characters. One summer afternoon my son and I were exploring NYC. We went to the intrepid museum and my son wanted to check out Times Square.

We got to Times Square, my son saw someone dressed as Mario (the video game character).

Naturally, Mario was waving and being friendly and people were taking photos with him. My son asked if he could have his photo taken. I said sure. To set the scene this was parents taking out their phones and taking pictures. We waited for our turn and took the photo.

Then Mario approaches me and asks for money. I had already taken the photo, what was I going to do? I felt obligated to take out some money to give Mario.

This is an example of a reciprocity trap. It is designed to trigger a donation exceeding the value of a 5 second photo taken on my phone.

To be clear, I understand that is how they make some money. For me, it took me by surprise.

To bring this to a negotiation, beware of people who make small concessions. Then ask for a bigger concession in return.

Or beware of people who disclose little information and then ask you to disclose a lot more information.

2. Good Cop Bad Cop

You may have experienced something like this in the past. An example of this can happen when going through a job application process.

• Good Cop: The business owner may say something along the lines of “officially I am not allowed to get into the salary aspect HR normally does that. However, we’d love to have you on board and will help fight for the salary you’ve asked for”. By saying this the business owner is attempting to get on your side and gain your trust.
• Bad Cop: The HR team member may counter by saying that unfortunately, we don’t have what you’re asking for in our budget we can only offer this much.

The role of the bad cop is to make an outrageous offer which generally anchors to the lower end of the salary offer.

The role of the good cop is to be on your side and have “internal discussions” to break down the bad cop to come up a little and then work with you to make that offer attractive.

Not saying this happens all the time or the characters involved have bad intent. The goal here is to distract you into a conversation between the business owner and HR while throwing you off your interests.

3. The last minute issue

Just as you’re about to agree on something, the last minute issue is surfaced. Something so small that it doesn’t really need a discussion and you may be tempted to just give in and agree. This becomes a free trade for the other person.

To avoid this, simply say no or ask for something in return (this is where preparation comes into play. Which is a post for another day.)

4. the school yard bully

During a negotiation you may come across someone who is over powering over bearing and you just cannot get a word in.

Yes, they still unfortunately exist. The key here is to remain calm and not get emotional or be intimidated.

5. the alternative availability

Good negotiators will likely try to ask questions about your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA). If you have not prepared properly and done your research you may not know if an alternative exists.

Once I got to the second round interview for a position, I asked where the company was in their hiring, they responded they should be making an offer to the right candidate soon.

The choice of words “right candidate” set off an alarm so I decided to probe a little further by asking questions and I found out that the company had a #1 candidate choice (in their own words started the process before me) who they were planning to make an offer.

I was being interviewed to fill up the pipeline in case their first choice said no or did not meet the employment requirements.

What to do if you fall into a negotiation trap

If you realize that you are falling into one of the above mentioned traps or in general feel that the negotiation is not going in the direction you had hoped for, think about the following:

• Staying quiet. Don’t start pushing back or making accusations.
• Focus on their interests. Does this trap help them in their interests or this is a school yard bully tactic to try and break you down?
• Do not start defending yourself or your interests. At this stage do not let your guard down or become emotional.
• Take a break. Take a five and come back if you feel progress can be made or consider your walk away point.