Conditional Offer

Frame every concession as conditional — "If you can do X, I can do Y" — never give without receiving.

GeneraleasyConcession Tactic

The conditional offer is the structural antidote to the most common negotiation mistake: unilateral concessions. Every concession should be paired with a reciprocal ask, surfaced before the concession is given, and tied together explicitly: "If you can move on payment terms to net-30, I can hold the price at $2.8M." The pairing forces the counterpart to also concede, signals that you negotiate seriously, and prevents the slow erosion of your position one item at a time.

Example

You

"I can move from $3M to $2.8M — IF you can get me the signed PO by next Thursday and a 30% deposit on signature."

Counterpart

"Thursday is tight."

You

"Then $3M is the price." (refusing to decouple the concession from the condition.)

When to use

Use it as a default mode for every concession in every negotiation — there''s essentially no situation where a unilateral concession is better than a conditional one.

When NOT to use

Don''t pair with asks that aren''t valuable to you — the conditional becomes empty theatre. Don''t make conditions impossibly large; they break the rhythm of the deal.

How to counter this

Accept the condition but inflate it in your favour: "Done — Thursday signature, but only 15% deposit." Tests whether the original linkage was real.

Related dimensions

Concession Architecture Closing Value Articulation

Practice drill

Plan three concession-condition pairs for your next negotiation. None should be standalone; each must include the reciprocal ask.

Practise this technique

When to use, when NOT to use, how to counter, and a practice drill — free forever.

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