The Nibble

Jan Potgieter


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The objective of ‘the nibble’ is to get an additional concession at the end of negotiation, when negotiators have almost reached an agreement. The nibble can be very effective because very often towards the end of negotiation our emotional attachment to a deal has built up and a final ‘small’ concession towards the other side may be tolerable in order to sign an agreement. Therefore think about your concession strategy and different ways you want to achieve your deal objectives. Sometimes it may be easier to accomplish some of your goals with the nibble later in negotiation.

This is a favourite technique used by sales people. Immediately, when a deal is concluded, they add additional cost items, e.g.

Sales person: "So with all the features the price is £ 1959?"
Customer: "That's very good. It's better than I thought."
Sales person: "Naturally, we need to add delivery at £50 and an installation fee of £100."

Because people become less stressed once a deal is made, the sales person has an excellent chance of succeeding with add-ons. You can increase the effectiveness of the nibble by combining it with ‘the funny money technique’. Think of a car sales person who, after the decision is made to buy the car, suggests that a sun roof, alloy wheels etc. could be added for a few extra pounds per month.

The customer can counter this by responding to the sales person's initial statement with: "Thanks, I'll take it. Of course this includes delivery and installation, does it not?" The customer has a moment of power because the sales person is psychologically at his weakest point directly after the deal is made, as he does not wish to see his hard work undone.

This "tit-for-tat" style of negotiating often make people feel uncomfortable, as they do not want any hassles when they simply wish to buy the product in good faith, regardless of the "ploys" that salespeople may be using.

Dealing with the Nibble

Against a customer’s request: “Transportation and insurance is included, isn’t it?” - the trading principle if…then should be used: “In contracts where we pay for transportation and insurance, we add an extra 3% to the price.” So yes, if you are willing to pay the extra 3%, then we will cover these two items.”

We usually recommend you enquire as to the interest behind this newly raised request. If it was omitted earlier by mistake, then perhaps there is an opportunity to meet this need in another creative way that meets both parties’ needs. A great way to prevent nibbling and other unpleasant surprises is through being explicit and thorough in specifying exactly what is included and excluded in the deal. You can also try to protect yourself by using The Higher Authority technique and highlighting the amount of time that needs to be involved to negotiate the other side’s request with someone who can approve the request.

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The Negotiation Academy (TNA) – http://www.negotiationeurope.com - is a specialist business negotiation management consultancy headquartered in London. Committed to delivering both best and leading practice business negotiation solutions, TNA collaborates with clients to instil a world class negotiation capability. With deep industry experience in several market sectors, global resources and a proven track record, TNA is uniquely positioned to assist clients to avoid the losses associated with sub optimal negotiations. TNA has a core competency in sales negotiation training , purchasing negotiation training and executive negotiation training (mergers & acquisitions negotiation training, asset management negotiation training, corporate finance negotiation training etc.)