Smart Ways to Express Your Final Offer in Negotiation

Moshe Cohen

A “Take It or Leave It” approach in negotiation is an aggressive form of communication behavior and in essence, draws a line in the stand and dares someone to do what they do not want to do.

“You’re going to take what we’re offering you or forget it,” is a quote that was found in a recent article that Communication Intelligence magazine found interesting enough to examine through a conversation.

“(Those offers) are common in negotiations and often fly below our radar,” says Moshe Cohen, senior lecturer at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, founder and president of The Negotiating Table and the author of Collywobbles: How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes You Nervous. “Every time we buy an Apple product at the retail price, we have essentially agreed to a ‘take it or leave it’ offer, as the Apple Store would reject any attempt on our part to negotiate the price.”

Something is happening when this type of tension is occurring.

“The offering party is betting that you don’t have better alternatives than what they’re offering you, the offering party has genuinely reached the limit beyond which they have better alternatives elsewhere and they have other interests, such as brand image or company policy that motivate them to hold firm,” Cohen says.

How often this type of definitive phrasing should be communicated is up for debate. There are situations however where the boundary is smart to express.

“We often need to convey that we’ve reached our limit in negotiations, but I’d never do it by saying ‘You’re going to take what we’re offering you or forget it,’” Cohen says. “The problem with this statement isn’t that it’s a ‘take it or leave it’ (statement) but instead the way it was communicated.”

He elaborates about the problem.

“The tone is aggressive and off-putting and reads like a power move, potentially damaging your relationship,” Cohen points out. “Even if the other party accepts your offer, they will do it reluctantly and try to renegotiate or get out of the deal if they can.”

Trying to dominate the other person or party with powerful flexes of communication in a negotiation is unwise and may very well be perceived as being character deficient.

“The only reason to communicate the offer in this way is to assert power over the other party, and that’s rarely a good reason,” Cohen says.

Yet power moves do work, probably more regularly than they should.

“The ultimatum that we’ve reached the end, and that if you don’t accept what we’re offering, the negotiation is over, works very well in negotiations if it’s conveyed with confidence and if you stand by it,” Cohen admits. “You see it very often when people negotiate job offers. At some point, the employer says, ‘This is our final offer. If it doesn’t work for you, let us know by Friday, and we’ll move on to the next candidate.’ The finality expressed by confidently asserting that you’re not going to negotiate further often sends the other person into a panic, and they agree to the deal.”

There are possible methods to communicate smarter in our stressful interactions where we have reached our breaking point or walk-away point.

“One of the most effective ways to express a ‘take it or leave it’ offer is with regret,” Cohen suggests, going on to explain that what could be said is something like, ‘I would love to give you more, but unfortunately, this is the best I can do and I understand if it doesn’t work for you.’”

This can prove helpful, he says, because, “Putting the focus on yourself removes the aggressive tone while remaining just as firm in sticking to the offer,” Cohen points out.

He has additional recommendations to share.

“Other ways to communicate this type of offer effectively include stating it simply, as in ‘this is our best and final offer’ or referring to a higher authority, such as ‘our policies prevent me from going below this number,” Cohen says.

He details why this is better and can prove more strategic and helpful than in-your-face, disrespectful communication.

“Both convey finality without being offensive,” Cohen says. “So, ‘take it or leave it’ offers are common and fine to use, but try to convey them as springing from the reality of the situation, rather than as a power play to the other party.”