Recognize Bluffing
An unlikely or outrageous statement used to influence, motivate, or drive concessions.
A party pretends they will do that which they have no intention of doing, or pretends to be in a better position than they really are. A bluff is sometimes given away by body language, although it is not unusual to encounter a smooth delivery. People who can bluff without being detected are referred to as having a “poker-face.”
Expect this tactic to be used as part of one of these Negotiation Strategies (competitive, collaborative, avoidance, accommodation, compromise) and in these stages of the Negotiation Process (Preparation, Exchange, Bargain, Conclude, Execution).
Negotiation Strategies: Collaborative, Competitive and Compromise
Negotiation Stages: Exchange, Bargain and Conclude
Why Strong Negotiators Don’t Need to Bluff
People typically bluff from a position of weakness. The better prepared you are, the more developed your BATNA, and the more confidence you carry into the room, the less you’ll ever need to bluff. The goal should be to never bluff – not because it’s off limits, but because your hand is simply that strong. When you’ve done the work in Preparation, you can make bold, defensible opening positions without resorting to fabrication.
Here’s the cold hard truth about bluffing: very few people are actually good at it. Very few people can make it to the World Series of Poker. There are verbal and nonverbal tells, logical inconsistencies, and gaps in story that are often very clear to a sophisticated negotiator. And if they detect a bluff, they won’t just dismiss it – they’ll pounce and take advantage of it. A failed bluff doesn’t just cost you that moment; it damages your credibility for the rest of the negotiation.
- Bluffing is extremely risky because if the other side calls your bluff, you must follow through. And lying is never acceptable in collaborative negotiations.
Defend Against Bluffing
There are preventive and defensive measures for handling Bluffing.
Prevention
There are no shortcuts to BNP 6: Prepare, prepare, prepare. The more you know about the other side’s interests, people and circumstances, the easier it will be to recognize the outrageousness of an assertion or the unlikelihood that it is accurate. Similarly there is no substitute for BNP 8: Focus on building trust; the more trust there is in the relationship, the higher the risk for the party considering bluffing.
Defense
If you believe the other side is bluffing, you can first Crunch to show your disbelief or suggest that bluffing is not a good idea in this situation (said with a smile) and see if the assertion disappears. And if the bluff is inconsequential, you can simply ignore it. Your next defense against a potential bluff is BNP 16: Use the power of the Negotiator’s Probe. Ask open-ended questions that expose the bluff and allow the discussion to continue on a more genuine note. If you can accept the consequences, you can call a person’s bluff by accepting a proposal that is not sincere, or rejecting a proposal they are trying to get you to accept, and thereby curtail any future bluffing.