Turn Your “No” into Their “Yes”: Business Negotiations and Risks of Saying “No”

The business negotiations and risks associated with buying my wife a car were minimal, but what if we’re talking about your business?

This is a story about business negotiations and risks. I bought my wife a car as a wedding present. We went to the dealership together for her to find what she wanted. I asked her to not show any emotions toward one car or another so I could negotiate the best deal possible. A simple ask, or so I thought...

She immediately expressed her delight and desire for a deep purple sedan. Her wave of excitement was met with equal waves of chagrin from me and salvation from the car salesperson.

With her excitement and commitment to that particular car, she had unknowingly swayed the power dynamic into the salesperson’s complete control. We were just along for the ride after that. 

But why? How could a little genuine excitement determine a negotiation before discussions even start?

Business negotiations and the risks associated with them take many forms. Excitement, stubbornness, and any other unchecked emotion may be your negotiation demise. But one seemingly elementary but critical and complex negotiation strategy that mitigates risk is simply saying “no”.

The ability to say “no” is one of the most powerful negotiation tools. It’s also incredibly fragile. Having other options aside from what’s being negotiated and who you’re negotiating with is a position of power. This is true for buyers and sellers. If you can say “no, I’ll take my business elsewhere”, you can drive negotiations toward your required outcomes or walk away if necessary. You are not dependent on executing this deal at this moment. 

This is known as having a better/best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or BATNA. And while it’s an incredibly advantageous place to negotiate from, it’s an easy position to lose. 

My wife sold herself on that purple sedan and that was that. She had to have that car at that moment. I could have worked some magic by bluffing “the other car we really liked at the other dealership”, but a good salesperson would see in our eyes that there was only their purple sedan at that moment. LIke I said, business negotiations and risks take many forms.

Successful negotiation prep includes defining and knowing the options you have if you walk away from the deal, if you say no. Do you need the product/service to begin with, or is it a nice-to-have? Can you use another supplier? If so, who else can provide what you need? When can they provide it? And, most importantly, can they give you a better deal? These questions each pose their own risk for the BATNA approach.

Understanding all your options and maintaining your “no” empowers you to eliminate risks in negotiations. But it will also require you to commit to move to the next thing if this one doesn’t work out. If you negotiate with the threat saying “no” in your deck of cards, you will eventually have to lay that card down and walk away.

Never walk into a negotiation dependent on that negotiation going your way. Your necessity of making that deal work could cause you to accept a less-than-ideal compromise. But proper preparation and an understanding of your options will make or break a deal.