Batten down the anchors: Responding to another negotiator's first offer

Drawing from a wealth of negotiation research, my previous installment of Negotiating Life advised negotiators to make the first offer if they can. But sometimes they can't. Sometimes, despite a negotiator's best efforts, the other side moves first. In this article, I provide a framework for responding to another negotiator's first offer, suggesting that the appropriate response varies markedly depending on the quality of the offer. This makes for a more comprehensive strategy for making and managing early offers in a negotiation.