Interests over Positions
Look beneath the stated position to find the underlying interest that's actually driving it.
The most-quoted move in negotiation literature: a position is *what* the counterpart says they want; an interest is *why* they want it. Positions are usually narrow and zero-sum ("I need 30% off"); interests are broader and often have multiple solutions ("I need to come in under last year''s spend"). The technique is to keep asking "why" or "what would that do for you" until the underlying interest surfaces — at which point creative options often appear that weren''t visible at the position level.
Example
Counterpart
"We need 30% off."
You
"What would the 30% do for you specifically?"
Counterpart
"We need to come in $200K under last year''s total spend."
You
"What if we held our price but bundled in the maintenance package you''d otherwise be buying separately? That gets you to $185K under, with better service."
Counterpart
"…that actually works better."
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