ยป Hardball Negotiation 101 and the Hamilton Coyotes
One of the hardest of hardball negotiation tactics is to crank up the pressure on your opposition.
For example, I read a real estate investment case study where the buyer became aware that the seller badly needed money*. He offered $200k for the $250k property. When the seller hemmed and hawed waiting for an offer closer to market the buyer reduced his offer to $180k. The seller delayed again and finally ended up accepting $150k for the property.
Similarly, Balsillie has cranked up the heat in the Coyotes situation. He put a June 30 deadline on his offer while also applying to the NHL to move the team, presumably to give Judge Baum a plausible reason to order the move and to make it politically difficult for the NHL to turn the application down.
Forcing counterparties to act faster than they would normally is a giant power play.
I’ve been a fan of Getting to YES negotiation since university, but poker (which I started playing before I read the book) taught me the power of adding stress to positional bargains.
This negotiation is a really neat hybrid. It’s essentially a peek into the strategy playbook of a billionaire Chartered Accountant — better than business school! I hope it all works out for PSE Sports.
* c.f. TCC rule number uno: Never let no one know how much dough you hold.
And… cranking up the heat worked perfectly.
Here are the key dates:
By putting a short time limit on the offer PSE has gently prodded Baum into moving up the trial date, which means the NHL’s lawyers have about two fewer weeks to prepare their arguments. I assume PSE’s lawyers are already prepared.
Ladies and gentlemen of the NHL legal team: welcome to a workaholic weekend. Try not to choke when it’s clutch like the ‘Nucks.
Jack
27 May 09 at 11:27 am
Baum scheduled the auction for June 22, assuming he rules the team can be moved, and gave the current executives, including Moyes, day-to-day control until the ownership issue is fully resolved.
Those decisions tend towards Balsillie. He wants to move quickly, and that auction date is earlier than the one he requested. Plus, Baum deciding that Moyes should control club operations gives the impression he might be leaning towards Moyes having authority to sell. Still, we’ll see next week.
Jack
27 May 09 at 12:15 pm
The Hamilton Tigers, anyone? Likely that historical name would be too close the the Tiger-Cats to be reused.
Don
28 May 09 at 11:51 am