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your generosity will be seen as a sign of weakness to be taken advantage
of. Giving away value early in the negotiation can leave you with a poor
hand to play in the rest of the negotiation. With very little to offer, and
relying upon the other side's generosity, you're gambling. Giving away

value too easily too early can signal to your negotiation counterpart that
you've very deep pockets, and your gift is just a taster of bigger and
better gifts to come. To some negotiators, an accommodating style

appears to promote harmonious relationships. What these
accommodating profiles miss is the myriad of other options that create
strong enduring relationships. Giving away the farm usually just creates
one happy negotiator, and that's not you. Warning: The faulty thinking

that puts accommodates into negotiation damage control is thinking that
because the goal is unimportant to you, it must have little value to the
other side. Remember to do your homework by asking the value of your

concession to the other party before making your trade or concession.
Self Defense
When someone is offering you a gift at the negotiation table, do

you humbly accept their generosity? Be careful, as theirs may be a
proverbial 'Greek Gift' - i.e. they may be luring you into reciprocation,
obliging you to give back something of greater value in return. So keep

in mind the value of the item being given - the relative value to both
sides. Make sure you don't give back something of disproportionately
higher value in return. You also need to be careful that they are not an
incompetent negotiator, making big concessions that jeopardizes the

viability of their business, or agreeing a deal that their managers will
later veto. If they go bust because they are giving away too much, you
could both end up losing.

Avoid (I Lose - You Lose)
This is most often referred to as "passive aggressive". People who
habitually use this style really dislike conflict. Rather than talk directly
with you about the issue, avoid styles may instead try to take revenge

without you knowing about it. The avoid style can be a typical reaction
to high compete negotiators. Sellers will frequently call less often on
high compete buyers (i.e. Avoiding Competitive buyers) - and may

choose to invest marketing money and share their best ideas and prize
promotions with buyers who make themselves available (those who are
not Avoiding the sales person.