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The missing person tactic occurs when after all of the negotiations have wrapped up, this very important person is nowhere to be found. If they can’t be found, they can’t sign off on the deal that has been reached. This means that things go into a weird sort of suspend animation while everyone waits for that person to reappear.The power associated with this tactic comes from the simple fact that all that waiting can play havoc with the other side of the table. As the days slip away, the simple fact that they are so tantalizingly close to having a completed deal starts to eat at them.
Soon they start to become desperate to close the deal. As they search for ways to move things to a close, they start to offer to make additional concessions. Perhaps small concessions in the beginning, but these can become much larger offers as time moves on. Although they are giving something up by making these offers, they view it as a last ditch effort to salvage a deal that seems to be slipping away.
The secret to the missing person tactic is that more often than not, the person with final approval authority really isn’t missing. Instead they just didn’t want to sign the deal as it originally stood. By making themselves “unavailable” they were able to ratchet up the pressure on the other side of the table and improve the quality of the deal that was finally presented to them.Time is a constant factor in any sales negotiation. Using the missing person tactic allows you to harness the power of time and make it work for you. As with all tactics, you need to be careful when and how you use this approach. Done wisely, and the missing person may turn out to be the most important member of your negotiating team!
The goal if this tactic is to cause intentional delays on the basis of excuse to involve their expert person in context of some details required in negotiation process.This person is someone who was never a part of the negotiation,someone who left earlier or someone who is an authorized person in their company.
It is a way to run a way and buy time from your opponent. You use this tactic if you feel you are weak and you want to buy more time.
Frequently used tactic by Buyer and Suppliers
It is a way of buying more time. eg. If this is your offer then I will have to consult my Vice President and it will take a weeks time.
its used when you feel more can be done but both parties have taken a stand not to move futher. By using the missing person tactic you politely way of not accepting the offer.
In case you are in hurry and want conclusion in the meeting, always ask who will take the final call and ask for that persons inclusion in the discussion.
it is an escpae to push negotiations further by including a person who is not avaialble at the momnet but would help to conclude the negotiation.
and is used especially by the party who feels weak in negotiations.
May be when one side of negotiations is not ready for negotiation process. By this tactic they try to get more time for preparations.
Or simply when the goal for them is stop the negotiations. They just interested in demonstrating publicly, that they are want to negotiate.
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