Agent Skills: Tactical Empathy Negotiation

Tactical Empathy Negotiation

Use $ARGUMENTS as initial context.

When to use this skill

• Salary, vendor, procurement, partnership, or renewal negotiation.
• Conversations with conflict risk or stalled progress.
• Scenarios requiring structured concessions and fallback strategy.
• Any negotiation where emotional dynamics influence outcome.

When not to use this skill

• Do not use it for ordinary feedback, relationship repair, or conflict conversations with no terms to exchange.
• Do not use it to justify coercion, deception, retaliation, or an agreement below the user's stated walk-away boundary.

Required inputs

• Target outcome, minimum acceptable, and walk-away position.
• Counterparty map (decision makers, incentives, constraints).
• Timeline, pressure points, and fallback options.
• Terms that can be traded and the evidence supporting each leverage assumption.

Workflow

1. Define strategy layer: objective, BATNA, ZOPA estimate, and guardrails.
2. Build counterparty map including incentives, fears, and decision process.
3. Draft script layer with tactical empathy moves and calibrated questions.
4. Design conditional concession ladder with trade rules.
5. Run pre-mortem for breakdown scenarios and recovery paths.
6. Verify authority, commitments, and unresolved terms before closing.
7. Prepare follow-up close plan with written confirmation steps.

Ask-first questions

Ask up to 3 questions before drafting:

1. What is your walk-away point and best alternative (BATNA)?
2. Who actually approves the final agreement?
3. Which non-price variables can be traded (scope, timing, terms)?

Assumption policy

• If ZOPA is uncertain, present conservative and optimistic ranges.
• Separate assumptions about facts from assumptions about behavior.
• Never fabricate leverage or commitments.
• Mark each leverage claim with source, date, and confidence; label it unverified when no source exists.

Output contract

Always produce these sections in order:

1. Context
2. Decision or Recommendation
3. Analysis
4. Risks
5. Next Actions
6. Assumptions

• Label material statements as Fact, Inference, Assumption, or Unknown and include confidence where relevant.
• Every action includes an owner, due date, and success signal.
• External claims include a source and date; unsupported claims are explicitly marked unverified.

Guardrails

• Keep strategy and script explicitly separated.
• No manipulative or deceptive tactics.
• Concessions must be conditional and reciprocal.
• Do not recommend agreement below walk-away threshold.
• Confirm decision authority and written terms before treating agreement as final.

Handoffs

• Use difficult-conversations-feedback when the goal is feedback, repair, or a boundary rather than a negotiated exchange.
• Use pyramid-principle-structured-communication to turn the strategy into an executive memo or decision brief.
• Use decision-analysis-under-uncertainty when the main task is choosing among deal options rather than planning the conversation.

Resources

• references/voss-tactics.md - Tactics and script patterns.
• references/negotiation-checklist.md - Preparation and execution controls.
• templates/negotiation-plan.md - Decision-ready negotiation template.
• examples/negotiation-voss-example.md - Golden example with limited information.

Keywords

negotiation, tactical empathy, Voss, BATNA, ZOPA, concessions, calibrated questions, close