Summary: Working alongside your counterpart to create a win-win outcome.

Although it is always good to have a plan complete with solutions laid out in your mind, getting your counterpart involved in generating win-win solutions can also be helpful. Your counterpart may well suggest an idea you had not considered.

Example

A client informs a consulting firm that she is having major customer service complaints and feels her staff needs training. While the consultant has a good idea about the type of employee and management training the company needs, instead of making suggestions, the consultant asks, “What type of training do you feel would work best for your managers and employees?” Clients usually have a very good idea of the prescription needed to cure their problems.

Counter

A counter will probably not be necessary with this tactic. But the client could employ Deflecting an Answer With a Great Question to change the course of the conversation, if desired. She might also try Sharing Both Pros and Cons of various possible solutions.

Have you used or encountered this tactic in your negotiations? If so, how’d it go?