Concept
BATNA
BATNA — Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement — is what you will actually do if this negotiation fails, and it is the true source of your power at the table.
Coined by Roger Fisher and William Ury in Getting to Yes, BATNA reframes where negotiating power comes from. It is not confidence, volume, or even how much you want the deal — it is the quality of your walk-away option. A candidate with another offer in hand negotiates salary differently from one with rent due; the difference is entirely BATNA. This cuts in both directions. Knowing your own BATNA tells you your reservation point — the worst deal you should still accept — so you stop guessing under pressure. Estimating theirs tells you how hard you can push. And unlike your position in the room, a BATNA can be improved before you ever sit down: every alternative you develop in advance is leverage you carry in with you.
A real-life example
Selin freelances and dreads rate conversations. Before her renewal call, she lines up two smaller clients willing to fill her calendar at her new rate. The anchor client balks — and she is fine, calmly holding her number. Two days later they accept. Nothing about her argument changed; her BATNA did.
How to use it
- 1Before any important negotiation, write down concretely what you will do if it fails — that is your BATNA, not a vague "I'll find something."
- 2Set your walk-away point from your BATNA, and refuse anything worse, however the conversation feels.
- 3Spend preparation time improving your alternatives, not polishing arguments — a better BATNA moves the outcome more than a better speech.