Negotiate With The Boss

[NegotiatingPatternLanguage]

Sometimes, the other party in a negotiation will use an AbsentProxy against you-- "I'm sorry, but the manager says I can't accept this offer". One way of dealing with this is to demand to NegotiateWithTheBoss--say something like "If you can't approve a deal, then I'd like to deal with someone who can." If they refuse to let you deal directly with someone who has final authority, consider leaving.

Many years ago, I learned this the hard way. During a long-weekend trip to interview in a city to which my wife and I wanted to relocate, the consulting/contracting company managed to get me in to see one more company. Although I spoke with three or four persons, none was the hiring manager for the position. Every one of those I spoke with described the new project work that was starting. The account manager for the consulting company thought the prospects were good there, too. Well, when I started, the work I was given was nothing like the descriptions from the interview discussions. Two months later, I felt that I was at a complete dead-end. NegotiateWithTheBoss wasn't really an option at that point because the consulting company had no incentive to change my deal (hey, they were getting paid, right?) and I was more than capable of the work I was doing. I always have to wonder if I would have been better to choose the other one when I had MoreThanOneOffer, but it was just a different client of the same consulting company. --RobBiedenharn

CategoryNegotiation