Negotiation Tips: Extremely Effective One Line Phrases

When you are trying to buy something and want to get a better price, you can use a tactic known as a “krunch”.  A krunch is your response to the initial price you were quoted and is designed to put pressure on the other party to go lower.

One of the main things to consider is your attitude when going into the dialog.  Do not feel that the price they quoted you is final.  How you respond, including your body language, tone of voice, and words will be different based on your goal and the situation.  Here are some extremely effective one line phrases that you can use to negotiate a better price.

Soft krunches: you are close, you just want them to reduce their price a little bit

  • Hmm, can you work with me on this?
  • What kind of flexibility do you have here?
  • I’m not getting a warm feeling about the cost.
  • I need you to come down on the price.
  • What’s your friends and family rate?
  • Hmm. (Then, just pause till they say something no matter how long the wait. Then, do it again.)

Moderate krunches: you need them to go a good bit lower

  • That’s not going to work.
  • Way too expensive.
  • Well, this isn’t really an attractive price for me.
  • You’re not quite in the ballpark. (Variation: remove “quite” if you need them to go even lower.)
  • I can’t bring that price back to [my boss] [my wife/husband].
  • If you can get down to [$abc], I can sell it at [my office] [home].   (Note that this phrase accentuates the positive instead of the negative phrase which would be “If you can’t get down to $abc, I can’t sell it…).

Aggressive krunches: you really need to hammer the price down a lot

  • What?!?  (Use this immediately upon hearing their price. Then, either pause and wait for a response or use a follow up one-liner below.)
  • You’re not even close.
  • Whoa, you want my first born with that?
  • I think you misplaced the decimal point in your quote.
  • That’s just not going to happen.
  • You’re joking, right?
  • Hey, I’m not a bank.

I am putting together a quick YouTube video to show the non-verbals associated with these responses. That will help you get a clear understanding of how these negotiation tips feel when you will use them. I will post that video later this month.

Practice before you engage in the negotiation and you stand an excellent chance of getting their price down.

Watch: Negotiation One Liners video

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