Agreement is possible only in the range between the two sides' reservation points, and most negotiation is discovering whether that range exists.
Fisher and Ury's term. Most negotiation is discovering whether the range exists at all, which is why early questions about constraints are more productive than early offers.
In practice
- A buyer who will pay up to £80,000 and a seller who will take nothing under £95,000 spend three meetings discovering there was never a deal.
- A candidate who asks about the band on the first call saves both sides four rounds of interviews.