Karma keeps you calmer

One of the great things about being a trainer/coach is that you occasionally get to try out some of the stuff you give out. Recently I have been running a negotiation course. Throughout it I'd talked about the value of a BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). I stressed you should not to regard it as a 'walkout' position but to think of the action you'd take if you can't get agreement - I tell delegates that it will empower them because they'll think beyond the negotiation. That is the theory anyway......

Recently I found house to buy, so I decided to put my BATNA theory into practice. Mine was that if the seller didn't accept my 'final' offer (much lower than I expected to have to pay), then I would leave my offer on the table and continue to look for another house. The seller could take my offer up any time before I found another. Boy, did it give me confidence!

It'll be no surprise to know that we quickly hit my final offer, so I told them my BATNA. I thought that they'd be offended at this 'derisory' offer and tell me to p*** off, but they said they'd think about it. They did and 3 hours later they accepted. I've never done such a stress free deal in all my life!

As my wife says "Chill out Chris, it's Karma"