It didn’t take long for companies to raise prices after war erupted in Iran… Sometimes accepting price rises is the right thing to do, after all the conflict in Iran is disrupting fuel, fertilizer, plastics, shipping, and much more. But, does it ever feel like prices are fast to rise but somehow companies are dazed and confused when it comes to passing on savings?
What happens when it is subtle? What if you are renegotiating contract terms and the conversations start dragging? The clarification questions seem endless. The time between meetings seems to be multiplying.
Is it inefficiency? Or is it a deliberate strategy?
Experienced negotiators suspect the latter. They understand that time is a strategic variable that can be leveraged to shift power, expose pressure points, and drive better outcomes.
The Costly Assumption: Why Urgency Is Rarely One-Sided
The most common mistake in high-stakes negotiation is projecting your own urgency onto the other side.
Consider a typical end-of-quarter sales cycle. As the deadline looms, the internal pressure on the sales team builds to "get the deal closed." Fearing the deal will slip into the next period, they offer discounts or concessions to speed things up.
They operate under the untested assumption: "The buyer can afford to wait. We can’t."
In reality, the buyer might be under identical internal pressure. They may have budget deadlines, reporting cycles, or delivery commitments that require the deal to be finalised just as urgently as the seller does.
When negotiators fail to test this, they don't speed the deal up - they simply negotiate against themselves.
How to Diagnose Negotiation Urgency
To avoid this trap, a negotiator must move beyond ‘gut feel’ and look for evidence of the other side’s timeline:
- Budget Cycles: Is their fiscal year-end approaching?
- External Dependencies: Do they need your solution to meet a commitment to their customers?
- Governance Windows: If they don't sign by Friday, does it have to wait another month for board approval?
- Etc.
Why Tactics Aren’t Enough: Understanding Cause and Effect
Many negotiation courses focus on ‘what to do’ tactics like ‘creating a sense of urgency’ or ‘controlling the timeline.’ However, high-stakes negotiating is not about memorising a script; it is about understanding the behavioural dynamics and power dynamics the table and beyond.
Time is a catalyst that:
- Changes Behaviour: Long delays can lead to frustration or ‘deal fatigue.’
- Exposes Pressure Points: Who blinks first when a deadline is missed?
- Alters Risk Tolerance: As time runs out, parties often become more risk-averse.
- Shifts Authority: Decisions that were once handled by procurement may move to the C-suite as a deadline nears.
Unless a negotiator understands how time is truly affecting both sides, tactics are applied blindly. True capability lies in the ability to think clearly under pressure, rather than just performing a rehearsed move. Understanding how the implications and ripple effects that come to play in complex negotiations with long term partners.
The Difference Between ‘Knowing How’ and Genuine Capability
There is a significant gap between theoretical knowledge and practical capability. Many professionals leave standard training knowing the names of tactics and the theory of leverage. But when the pressure hits, behaviour often reverts to old, reactive habits.
Understanding beats instruction.
When a negotiator truly understands why the other side is dragging their feet or how a delay impacts the total value of a deal, they make better decisions instinctively.
At Scotwork, we focus on this shift from ‘running scripts’ to building negotiators who can think not just about the transaction in front of them, but how those transactions interact, the long term consequences, and implications that exist in the complexities of modern business.
This involves:
- Surfacing Power: Identifying where the other party is actually vulnerable to time.
- Qualifying Demands: Testing whether a ‘drop-dead date’ is a real constraint or a tactical bluff.
- Valuing Concessions: Ensuring that any move made to ‘save time’ is treated as precious bargaining capital, not a freebie.
- Understanding and predicting the broader inter-dependencies and implications beyond just this transaction.
They make better decisions instinctively, in real time, accounting for the broader strategic intent, consequences and interdependencies. In other words, what might work in a simple and clean case study needs to survive a complicated and changing real world.
The Real Advantage: Better Outcomes, Stronger Relationships
When time is managed as a strategic lever rather than a source of panic, the results are measurable. Organisations that prioritise negotiation capability see:
- Testing Concessions: Additional $$$ may not have been needed,
- Concessions: when made, they serve broader strategic objectives
- Faster Agreements: By identifying the true drivers of the other side, deadlocks are broken more efficiently.
- Stronger Relationships: Circular arguments are replaced by constructive, transparent dialogue. Confidence replaces panic.
Conclusion: Before You Speed Up, Slow Down
The next time you feel the urge to reach into your pocket and offer a concession just to ‘move things along’, pause.
Ask yourself:
- How does time really affect us?
- How does it really affect them?
- What evidence do we have for these assumptions?
If you don’t ask these questions, time won’t help you. It will quietly work against you.
To see how well your negotiators apply themselves at the table... get in touch!
Happy negotiating!