Coaching practices for Interest Based Bargaining

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Interest Based Bargaining, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • We’re haggling issue by issue, splitting the difference on each one, and it’s leaving us both worse off
  • The numbers actually work and yet they still won’t budge, and I keep sweetening the offer to no effect
  • We’re both dug into our numbers and it feels totally deadlocked, but I have a hunch we’re not actually that far apart underneath
  • We’re stuck head-to-head over a single number, both digging in on what we’re demanding, and I keep sensing that if I understood what’s actually driving their number
  • The other person is dug in on a flat demand and I’m about to start countering it

Practices that may help

  1. Trade across issues where each side has different priorities
    Give the counterpart what they care most about; get what you care most about — logrolling is only possible when interests differ.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  2. Distinguish substantive, procedural, and psychological interests
    The interest behind a position is often not about the money or the terms — it may be about face, fairness, or control.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  3. Focus on interests, not positions
    Ask why a position is taken — the underlying interest is almost always more negotiable than the stated demand.
    Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
  4. Probe for interests, not positions
    Ask why the other side wants what they say they want before responding to what they say.
    Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference
  5. Ask "why" before proposing any solution
    Understand the interest driving a position before generating any solution — solutions invented before interests are understood usually solve the wrong problem.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  6. Identify compatible interests for joint gain
    When both sides care about the same thing — quality, reputation, timing — agreements that serve that shared interest outperform splits.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  7. Insist on objective criteria to evaluate options
    Agree on an independent standard — market rate, precedent, expert opinion — before applying it to the specific deal.
    Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
  8. Focus on interests, not positions
    Dig beneath what each side demands to why they want it — the interest, not the stance.
    Getting to Yes: Principled Negotiation
  9. Map interests for both sides before generating solutions
    Write down both parties’ known and inferred interests before proposing anything — the map reveals trades that no single position could.
    Interests vs. Positions: The Core of Integrative Negotiation
  10. Logroll by trading issues of unequal importance
    Concede on what matters less to you in exchange for gains on what matters more.
    Expanding the Pie: Negotiation Beyond Splitting the Difference

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