Negotiation 101 - "The Nancy"

Today I want to talk(write) about a negotiating tactic that we call the "Nancy". It's named after a customer that employed it to a humorous extent. It basically goes like this... "The stuff you're selling is

• crappy quality


• last year's model


• a bad color


• undesirable by any other purchaser


• not the exact size or shape I want


• not within a 5 mile radius of my house
• 
  
• I just don't have that much money


• etc

so I'll be generous and offer you pennies on the dollar." In other words, they are saying that you have no idea what you're doing when you're pricing your products.


It's a simple negotiating tactic employed by people that don't really know much about negotiating but have probably had some success with it across from sellers that don't know much about negotiating. The counter for it is also simple. Just ignore everything that comes before the person's offer. What do you care about all the extra details they are throwing at you? If the situation was reversed, would that person sell the product at the lower price? No, they would sell it based on what the current market rate is defined by Google (just like you). Have them make an offer if you're flexible but above all, don't get into a discussion defending your pricing because they already know the comp prices and are trying to get you to drop your pants based on made up information.