So what are the anchor point and
target points in a negotiation and why
are they important?
So to start with uh the target point
is your aspiration point, it's what you
hope to achieve in the negotiation with
regard to individual interests or
collectively groups of interest okay.
Now your anchor point is actually
where you
open up in a negotiation so I offer a
certain amount you respond
with us an offer right in a sales
scenario that would be our anchor points
where we open up in the negotiation okay.
So to start with i want to address how
do you set your target point
with regard to a specific interest.
Well
to start with you really have to
understand your interests and know your
objectives with regard to those
interests
okay and now I highly recommend rather
than uh
establishing your objectives for
individual interest
uh it's more important to establish
collectively
your objective with regard to all the
interests. That allows you to
better trade off between individual
interests to
create more value collectively across
all the interests that stake right it
it uh ups the odds that you're able to
give someone one interest and
gain someone other interest to uh
achieve the greatest value there we call
that an
integrative uh negotiation okay.
Now as far as once you understand or
identify or understand your
uh interest or objectives it's important
that the interests
or objectives be specific all right.
It keeps you from wavering uh in terms
of what you're going for,
they do need to be achievable because if
they're outside the range of reason
or or at least they aren't perceived to
be achievable by the other person
then the negotiation once again is
doomed to fail uh
from the beginning, and then they have to
be a verifiable that is
you can actually tell or understand or
measure
uh if you have indeed achieved the
interest or objectives you're going for
in the negotiation okay.
So uh and then lastly
you need to approach the interest again
or the target point with the
understanding that you're going to
bundle or package
interest together and trade them off.
So again
try to look at the interest or
objectives or issues that stay
collectively
and say how do you come out on the other
side uh with an agreement that
creates the most value possible even if
it didn't create the most value possible
for an individual interest okay.
So uh that's the target point how
you establish that keep those elements
in mind.
And the next the uh anchor point
where do you open up
well to start with generally the party
with the most
or best information is going to be
empowered to open up in the negotiation.
Okay.
So you've heard that I was saying that
the party that speaks first in a
negotiation loses well that's not
true okay if you have better information
in a negotiation if you uh have superior
knowledge then you should
open up you should set your anchor point
in the negotiation okay. Now the
important things
to know about that is it needs to be
realistic okay because
if it's perceived not to be realistic it
can alienate the other party they could
walk away
uh because then they perceive that
there's no possibility that you could
come to an agreement. And then uh once
you've
anchored expect concessions
from the other side whatever they
respond but yourself
that you are going to move down from
your anchor point
uh towards again your reservation point
okay, because the idea is uh whatever the
anchor point your anchor point is and
whatever the other party's anchor point
is
that's your bargaining range and you
have to bring that bargaining range down
within the zone of potential agreement
within each of your reservation points,
and once you've done that then it's just
a matter of who grabs more value in the
negotiation
but in either scenario it's a win-win.
If you get within the zone of potential
agreement
you should arrive at a negotiated
agreement okay.
A more skilled negotiator or someone
with superior knowledge
right and the negotiation is then again
uh has an advantage as far as claiming
value in the negotiation but as long as
you have a zone of potential agreement
you should arrive in an agreement so
there you have it there's setting your
target point
and setting your anchor point in the
negotiation.