Sample frameDay 001·Negotiation · Career

Good morning. Your leverage in every negotiation starts with knowing and believing in your best alternative.

Negotiation.

BATNA

5 min read·Apply by lunch

The question

What's your best alternative if this deal, offer, or conversation doesn't go your way — and have you actually prepared it?

The idea

BATNA — Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement — was developed by Roger Fisher and William Ury in 'Getting to Yes' (1981) and remains the single most powerful concept in professional negotiation. Your BATNA is what you do if you walk away. It determines your real leverage — not your perceived leverage. A strong BATNA means you negotiate from confidence. A weak or absent BATNA means you'll accept almost anything to avoid the void. The mistake most professionals make isn't poor tactics in the room — it's that they never prepare their alternative before sitting down. When you don't have a clear alternative, the other side can always make walking away feel worse than accepting a bad deal.

The framework

01
Define your BATNA before the conversation.
Not in the meeting. Before it. Your BATNA is the best outcome you can achieve without the other party's cooperation. For a salary negotiation: another offer in process, your current role, freelance pipeline you could accelerate. For a supplier contract: an alternative vendor you've actually called, an in-house option. The act of preparing it — in writing — changes how you walk in.
02
Strengthen your BATNA before you sit down.
The best negotiators spend more time improving their alternatives than practising their tactics. Get competing offers. Build the alternative. Call the next vendor before you need them. Every step you take to improve your BATNA before the conversation increases your leverage at the table — even if you never mention it.
03
Estimate their BATNA.
Your leverage is relative, not absolute. Understand what they do if this deal doesn't close. Are they under time pressure? Do they have other buyers? Is this a strategic account for them? What do they lose if you walk? The more accurately you estimate their alternative, the more precisely you can calibrate your position.
04
Know your reservation price — and write it before you enter.
Your reservation price is the point at which walking away is better than accepting. It's derived from your BATNA. If they can't beat your alternative, you leave. Setting this before the negotiation — not during — prevents you from moving your floor under pressure. The mistake: entering a negotiation without a reservation price means you'll negotiate against yourself in real time.

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