Aggressive Behavior

Similar to tactics described under intimidation, aggressive behavior tactics include various ways of being aggressive to push your position or attack the other person’s position. Aggressive tactics include a relentless push for further concessions (“You can do better than that”), asking for the best offer early in negotiations (“Let’s not waste any time. What is the most that you will pay?”), and asking the other party to explain and justify his or her proposals item by item or line by line (“What is your cost breakdown for each item?”). The negotiator using these techniques is signaling a hard-nosed, intransigent position and trying to force the other side to make many concessions to reach an agreement.

When faced with another party’s aggressive behavior tactics, an excellent response is to halt the negotiations in order to discuss the negotiation process itself. Negotiators can explain that they will reach a decision based on needs and interests, not aggressive behavior. Again, having a team to counter aggressive tactics from the other party can be helpful for the same reasons discussed under intimidation tactics. Good preparation and understanding both one’s own and the other party’s needs and interests together make responding to aggressive tactics easier because negotiators can highlight the merits to both parties of reaching an agreement.