Tufts Magazine/Winter 2011

Opening Moves

THEY CAN MAKE OR BREAK ANY DEAL

How a negotiation begins can profoundly influence how it ends. Consider the ill-starred bargaining process that unfolded between Frank, an acquaintance of mine who owned a trademark, and John, the president of a start-up beverage company. At John’s request, Frank traveled from a distant city for a meeting, which John opened by asking: “Frank, we’d like to buy the trademark and we want to know how much you want for it.” Frank replied, “How much are you offering?” John insisted on knowing how much Frank wanted for the mark, and Frank persisted in demanding an offer. Finally, as their conversation came to resemble a buyer and a seller haggling over the price of a mango in a tropical market, John and his two associates retreated into the hallway to confer.

Returning after ten minutes, John said, “Frank, we’ll give you $100,000 for the trademark.” Frank reacted angrily. “That’s ridiculous. It’s worth a lot more than that and you know it.” Frank slammed shut his briefcase and stormed out. It took more than a year for the two sides to resume discussions.

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