No4 - The Broken Record - 47 Negotiation Tactics
Persistence beats persuasion every time.
The Weekly Walkaway highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms. Issue No. 115 (4th July 2025)
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Happy Friday Walkawayers.. and two negotiation tactic stories for your enjoyment..
Our Standard Terms Are..
I had lost count of how many procurement meetings I sat through that year. Ten? Twenty? They all blurred into one. Zoom, Teams, Google the same ‘type’ of person across the table repeating the same thing like they were stuck in a loop.
“Our standard terms are…”
You’ve been there. I’m certain of it.. God darn it’s frustrating.. And it's meant to be.
The one that stands out to me was with a large retailer, let’s call them Tesbury and sitting opposite me, virtually, digitally, was Debbie. Senior Category Manager. Fifteen years in role. Queen of the broken record.
“We don’t pay upfront for training. Ever.”
That was her opener. Her middle. And, unless I did something, it was gonna be her closer…
I was there, on request, to design and deliver a bespoke leadership development programme which focused on negotiating better outcomes with their people. Six months, blended learning and coaching.
Debbie had been instructed by her stakeholder, my client. She had our case studies, ROI, NPS and feedback scores so high it made it difficult for clients to argue our value. She even had a video testimonial from a COO who claimed the programme had changed the way they ran their business.
All Debbie did was nod.. Smile and take notes.. At least she did that.. and say, like clockwork:
“We don’t pay upfront for training. Ever.”
I had tried to break the pattern and found myself explaining, selling, justifying even;
“Debbie, I understand you have your standard terms, but this isn’t a traditional workshop and you’re not buying goods.. You are buying a service, IP and my time. It’s tailored for you .”
Debbie didn’t even blink.
“We don’t pay upfront for training. Ever.”
It was like talking to a computer… aaaarrrgghhh!
Of course I’d seen this before, many times, and ‘it’s’ used by both buyers and sellers.. but especially by my kids!!
“I want an ice cream. I want an ice cream. I WANT ICE CREAM. I want ICE CREAM”!!
And of course I’d used it before myself.
The Broken Record - Repeat something enough times it happens. Calm, polite repetition, is the key, because it wears down resistance faster than confrontation, as my kids have finally learnt..
“I would like an ice cream”. “Oh it's hot, I’d love an ice cream daddy, wouldn't you?” “Hot, Hot, Hot.. ice cream time..”, “I’d love an ice cream with you father, can I buy you one?”.
I opened my plan.. and said something like:
“Let’s explore something, Debbie.. let’s separate scheduling of my time and design from delivery. Would you agree to a 15% increase in the total fee and 50% payment upfront in return for the rest of the amount being payable within your standard terms?
Debbie hesitated. The record skipped.. She’s started considering it..
Debbie closed her notepad and say:
“That’s creative. Let me take that back to the team.”
A week later, the call came. They agreed to the split.
The Broken Record only works on people who stop thinking. So; keep moving, keep repackaging.. Be curious and get creative.. and be bold to scratch that record..
(it's a vinyl music playback thing, for you youngsters who don't know what a record is… sigh!).
Here’s another story for you….
Just Say No
My mate, let's call him Bob.. to protect the innocent.. An HRD, never shouts, never seems to get angry nor frustrated.. he’s always so uber cool.
Why? He has something far more powerful..
He just says: “No.”
He always says it softly.. casually.. with just enough WTF flinch to suggest he’s been there before.. because he has, this is his thing.. and every time, it works.
He tells a story of a supplier, all sleek PowerPoint slides, expensive watches and way too much man-perfume!
After pitching their new sleek HR platform and putting the price on the table my mate closes his folder and just says:
“No.”
Silence.
The suppliers, squirms uncomfortably in the silence:
“Sorry?”
“No. You’ll have to do better than that.”
More silence.
And then.. To every argument, explanation and justification he just says:
“No.”
“No. Not even close.”
“No. That’s not how we do things here.”
“No. That’s above the ceiling.”
“No.”
No counteroffers. No alternatives. Just flat, consistent rejection.
We can all imagine how hot that room was for the supplier.
And this is where the supplier, desperate for something else but Bob’s NO starts to negotiate in their own head, slicing away at scope and margin.. Just so they can achieve something.
By the end of the hour, the supplier had dropped their price by 18% and even offered 60-day payment terms.
Bob says he smiled, offered his hand for a handshake and said:
“We’ll review and be in touch.”