Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton
Contents
6 What If They Are More Powerful? - (Develop Your BATNA-Best Alternative To a ...
Overview
The chapter answers how to negotiate when the other side seems more powerful: develop your BATNA to protect against bad deals and to improve outcomes. It critiques rigid bottom lines, introduces trip wires, and shows that true negotiating power comes from attractive alternatives. It advises assessing, improving, and sometimes revealing BATNAs—yours and theirs—and, if both sides have strong alternatives, recognizing no deal as success.
Summary
The authors frame the core problem of facing a stronger party: no method guarantees victory, but you can both avoid bad agreements and make the most of what you have. They caution that pressure and sunk costs tempt negotiators to concede too much, producing deals they should reject.
They critique bottom lines as rigid and often mis-set, limiting learning and creativity across multiple variables. Instead, they propose using BATNA—the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement—as the standard to judge offers, enabling flexible comparison and wiser acceptance or rejection.
To counter uncertainty, they urge clarifying your BATNA through three steps: invent possible no-deal actions, improve the promising ones into real options, and tentatively select the best. A “trip wire” threshold, set above BATNA, provides early warning and agent control. With a better BATNA, confidence and leverage rise; disclosure depends on whether it strengthens your hand.
They emphasize considering the other side’s BATNA and correcting overoptimism or, if necessary, changing it so they need to negotiate on the merits. Examples—from house sales to tourists and vendors, towns versus corporations, unions, and community groups—show that true power is relative to alternatives. If both sides’ BATNAs are strong, an amicable no-deal outcome may be best. Developing BATNA is the most effective response to seemingly superior power.
Who Appears
- NegotiatorAny party seeking agreements; must build BATNA, use trip wires, and compare offers to alternatives.
- Buyer/Seller of a HouseIllustrates bottom line pitfalls and how BATNA and trip wires guide wiser accept/reject decisions.
- TouristWealthy buyer in a market; weak without knowledge of alternatives and comparable prices.
- VendorMarket-savvy seller with multiple buyers; demonstrates power from alternative customers.
- Small TownStrengthens leverage by planning annexation and taxation, converting it into a strong BATNA.
- Corporation/Factory OwnerAppears powerful but lacks alternatives; weaker without a developed BATNA.
- Job CandidateNegotiates salary; multiple offers improve BATNA and bargaining confidence.
- Labor UnionConsiders strike, mediation, and work-to-rule; formalizes alternatives to raise leverage.
- Community GroupMay file suit to worsen the power company’s BATNA and compel negotiations.
- Power CompanyStrong default to proceed or stall; must be pushed by altering its BATNA.