Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

The price you offered is very fair, and I certainly
wish that I could afford it. Bruno has worked very
hard for this business, and he deserves to be
compensated appropriately. I am very sorry, but
wish you the best of luck.

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Notice how they made no counteroffer and said “No”
without using the word?
Joaquin was shocked when the following day he
received an email from the advisor lowering the price to
€28,346.
Joaquin and Jesus then crafted their second gentle “No”:
Thank you for your offer. You were generous to
reduce the price, which I greatly appreciate. I really
wish that I could pay you this amount, but I am
sincere in that I cannot afford this amount at this
time. As you know, I am in the middle of a divorce
and I just cannot come up with that type of money.
Again, I wish you the best of luck.
The next day Joaquin received a one-line email from the
advisor dropping the price to €25,000. Joaquin wanted to
take it but Jesus told him that he had some “No” steps to go.
Joaquin fought him, but in the end he relented.
There’s a critical lesson there: The art of closing a deal is
staying focused to the very end. There are crucial points at
the finale when you must draw on your mental discipline.
Don’t think about what time the last flight leaves, or what it
would be like to get home early and play golf. Do not let
your mind wander. Remain focused.
They wrote:
Thank you again for the generous offer. You have
really come down on the price and I have tried very

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hard to come up with that amount. Unfortunately, no
one is willing to lend me the money, not even my
mother. I have tried various avenues but cannot
come up with the funding. In the end, I can offer you
€23,567, although I can only pay €15,321.37 up
front. I could pay you the remainder over a one-year
period, but that is really the most I can do. I wish you
the best in your decision.
Brilliant use of specific numbers, and what an empathy-
building way to say “No” without using the word!
And it worked. Within one hour, the advisor responded
to accept.
Look at this closely: see how the mixture of mirroring
and open-ended questions dragged out the information
about Bruno’s financial problems, and then the “No”
method exploited his desperation? It might not have been a
great idea to use this method if there’d been another buyer,
but with no one else it was a brilliant way to get Bruno to
bid against himself.