How to Haggle With Kidnappers

The Ackerman Bargaining system is a negotiation tactic that was developed by former CIA operative Mike Ackerman and was highlighted in Chris Voss's book Never Split the Difference. Ackerman used this process for years in high-stakes ransom negotiations with international kidnappers.

There are 6 components to the systems 

1. Set your target price.
2. Set your first offer at 65% of your target price.
3. Calculate three raises of decreasing increments (85%, 95%, and 100% if necessary).
4. Deploy empathy and find different ways of saying “No” to facilitate offers and counteroffers. 
5. When calculating the final amount, use precise, nonround numbers like, say, $3,489.34 rather than $3,500. It gives the number credibility and gives the appearance of carefully constructed calculation. 
6. On your final number, throw in a nonmonetary item. This helps show your counterparty you are out of money to give and only are down to non-cash items. 

Building Rapport...

 Building rapport is a key skillset in sales and negotiation. 

Anyone who seeks to influence the outcome or persuade someone to their side needs to understand how to build rapport. 

Many people think building rapport is seeing a fish on their mantle and saying "oh you like to fish, I like to fish" then talking about fishing for 30 minutes. 

That is not building rapport and it is transparently disingenuous. 

Rather, you should build rapport by asking thought-provoking and discussion-enabling questions.