Gift wrap your offer!

Whether it is face to face or through the mediator, packaging can make a big - sometimes crucial - difference.

Find something to appreciate in your counterpart’s offer, e.g. “we can’t accept your offer, but we appreciate the fact that you’ve made one” or “I’m grateful for the explanation of how you arrived at your numbers…”

State your own offer in positive terms. So rather than “we’re not willing to go any further than £500,000”, you could frame it as “we are willing to stretch to £500,000.” Instead of “the least we’d accept is £75K and an apology”, how about “we need £75K as a minimum, and some expression of regret.”

Be ready to give reasons to support an offer. People appreciate some rationale – even if they don’t agree with it - e.g “the figure we’re prepared to offer/accept is £x, and we get to it as follows….”