Set your target before you open — never anchor to their first offer

Know your target and your walkaway before any numbers are exchanged, so their anchor doesn’t colonize your frame.

Why it works

First numbers anchor subsequent judgments — even arbitrary ones. Without a pre-committed target, your counterpart’s opening offer becomes the reference point your brain adjusts from, systematically pulling you toward their desired outcome. Establishing your target before any numbers are on the table immunizes you against their anchor.

How to do it

1. Before the negotiation, set a specific target — not a range, a number — based on research and your BATNA.
2. Set a separate walkaway point below which no deal is better than the alternative.
3. When the counterpart makes an opening offer, anchor your counter from your pre-set target, not from their number.

Evidence

Anchoring effects in numerical negotiation are among the most replicated findings in behavioral economics. Pre-commitment to independent targets is the standard debiasing recommendation. (rct)

Complete immunity to anchoring is not achievable — pre-commitment reduces but does not eliminate the effect. Knowing about anchoring helps moderately but not fully.

Sources

• Galinsky & Mussweiler (2001), "First offers as anchors", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Common mistake

Treating your target as a range ("somewhere around $X") — vague targets provide no anchor and leave you drifting toward whatever the counterpart suggests.