BuyerZone's sales team highlights important takeaways and tips from the international bestseller "Getting to Yes" by Roger Fisher and William Ury. For more sales tips, visit our blog: www.buyerzone.com/blog

1. www.buyerzone.com A Purch Brand
Takeaways from the
international
bestseller:
Getting to Yes
BuyerZone’s sales team highlights
important takeaways and tips

2. Chapter Highlights
I. THE PROBLEM
1. Don’t bargain over positions
II. THE METHOD
2. Separate the people from the problem
3. Focus on interests, not positions
4. Invent options for mutual gain
5. Insist on using objective criteria
III. YES, BUT…
6. What if they are more powerful?
7. What if they won’t play?
8. What if they use dirty tricks?

3. Chapter 1: Don’t Bargain
Over Positions

4. The authors state that the major problem in many negotiations is
that people assume positions that are either Soft or Hard.
Soft Hard
Accepts losses to reach agreement Demands gains as price of agreement
Single answer they will accept Single answer you will accept
Insists on agreement Insists on position
Avoids contest of will Insists on contest of will
Yields to pressure Applies pressure

5. They suggest that, rather than being either hard on the people and
the problem, or soft on people and problem, it is possible to be soft
on the people and hard on the problem.
They call this approach principled negotiation or
negotiation on its merits.

6. This method can be broken down into four
points:
1. People: Separate the people from the problem
2. Interests: Focus on what’s important (interests), not positions
(rigid stake in the ground)
3. Options: Explore options that could work; select the best (most
appropriate) after all considerations
4. Criteria: Be objective and reasonable

7. Chapter 2: Separate the
People from the Problem

8. Remember what’s important
Recognize that emotions and egos can
create problems in negotiations, and that
this will adversely affect your ability to
see the other party's position clearly.
This results in confrontational rather
than cooperative interactions.
Focus on:
• Clarifying perceptions
• Recognizing and acknowledging
emotions
• Communicating clearly

9. Chapter 3:
Focus on Interests, Not
Positions

10. Initial positions can be blinders – can’t see through to what’s
really the issue and what’s important
To get to a ‘wise’ solution, figure out interests – not positions:
• Interests define the problem
• Behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests

11. Most often, interests center around things
most important to us (those involving basic
human interest) such as:
• Security
• Economic well-being
• A sense of belonging
• Recognition
• Control over one’s life
Make a list! It helps you sort out interests of
both parties

12. Chapter 4:
Invent Options for Mutual
Gain

13. How to Invent Creative Options
Propose options without adding judgments
• Separate inventing from deciding
Brainstorm alternatives
• Alternate between general and specific
Figure out what solutions work for both
• Shared interests
• Differences can create agreement
Make it an easy decision
• Proposals – show value
• Appeal to one person; become advocate

14. Chapter 5:
Insist on Using Objective
Criteria

15. Deciding on the basis of will can be costly…..
• Creates an “Us versus Them” negotiation process
• One or both sides may not be willing to back down
• Can create counter productive tension within the
process
• Almost always ends with winner/loser outcome
• May damage long-term business relationships
Using objective criteria works because neither
party looks or feels weak and it reduces the
number of promises the parties make and unmake.

16. Negotiating with Objective Criteria
• Discuss together and agree upon
objective criteria for each issue
• Reason and be open to reason as to
which standards are most appropriate
• Never yield to pressure, only to principle
• Focus on objective criteria firmly but
flexibly

17. Chapter 6:
What If They are More
Powerful?

18. In negotiations, there are always realities, one of which is the
other side may have a better bargaining position, i.e. power.
In response to the other side with a power position, the most any
method of negotiation can do is to meet two objectives:
1. Protect you against making an agreement you should reject
2. Help you make the most of the assets you do have so that any
agreement you reach will satisfy your interests as well as possible.

19. Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement
(BATNA)
• It is the standard against which any proposed agreement should be
measured
• Can be flexible
• Whether you should agree upon a negotiation or not depends upon
the attractiveness to you of the best available alternative
• Trip wires - give you early warning that the agreement terms may be
too unattractive

20. The better your BATNA the greater your
power
Develop your BATNA
• Consider what to do if no negotiation is reached
• Develop alternatives to a negotiated agreement
• Select best alternative (BATNA) – if no agreement reached, what is next
option
Once you select the best among the alternatives, judge each offer
against this BATNA
If both sides have attractive BATNAs then it is possible the best
outcome for both parties is NOT to reach an agreement

21. Chapter 7: What If They Won’t
Play?

22. When you attack problems on their merits, but the other party
attacks you, what can you do to turn them away from positions and
towards merits?
There are three basic approaches:
1. Focus on what you can do – focus on merits; continue to stay away from
positions (already discussed)
2. Focus on what they can do – direct their positional bargaining towards
the merits (negotiation jujitsu)
3. Focus on what a third party can do to direct the discussion to interests,
options and criteria

23. Negotiation Jujitsu
If the other side announces a firm position, you may be tempted to
criticize and reject it. If they criticize your proposal, you may be
tempted to defend yourself and counter attack. It’s human
nature. It’s hard...
In practice, negotiation jujitsu works by allowing you to side step
their attack and deflect it against their problem.
• Don’t defend your ideas, invite criticism and advice – examine their negative
judgments to discover their interest so you can improve your ideas from
their point of view
• Recast an attack on you as an attack on the problem – listen to the attack to
show you understand it, and then recast the attack on you as an attack on
the problem
Asking questions and pausing can be another great tool as the
other side gets their points across and you have time to
understand them

24. A third party can separate the people from the problem
and direct the discussion to interests, criteria and
options.
• Ask for interests: “Why do you want ____?” Your questioning
will give you the criteria to help formulate options
• Invite criticism to improve your ideas from their point of view
• Invent options based on their interests
A natural third party may be a participant who's interest
lies more in affecting an agreement than in affecting the
particular terms.

25. Chapter 8:
What if They Use Dirty Tricks?

26. There are many tactics and tricks people
can use to try to take advantage of you.
They range from lies and psychological
abuse to various forms of pressure
tactics.

27. Tricky tactics
There are three steps in negotiating the rules of negotiating game
where the other side seems to be using a tricky tactic:
1. Recognize the tactic.
2. Raise the issue explicitly.
3. Question the tactic’s legitimacy and desirability – negotiate over it.
Common tricky tactics include…
• Deliberate deception
• Ambiguous authority
• Dubious intentions

28. Psychological warfare
Tactics that are designed to make you feel uncomfortable
• Used to create a subconscious desire to end the negotiation as soon as
possible
• Stressful situations. Manipulate physical environment
o Small Chair, Hot/Cold, Noisy
• Personal Attacks
o No eye contact, disguised insult, waiting, interruptions
• The good-guy / bad-guy routine
• Threats

29. Positional pressure tactics
 Refusal to negotiate
Recognize as a possible ploy. Don’t attack, instead find out their interests in
not negotiating
 Hardhearted partner
Most common ploy. Look to speak (or write if possible) with the principle
party involved
 A calculated delay
Postpone a decision until the time is right. Used in labor negotiations
 “Take it or leave it”
Most business is conducted this way. It’s efficient but not negotiation

30. Recap
The problem with getting to “yes” is that people
focus on positions, not principles.
What to do:
• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on what’s important (interests), not positions
(rigid stake in the ground)
• Explore options that could work; select the best
(most appropriate) after all considerations
• Be objective and reasonable

31. And those are the secrets to getting
yes!
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