Written by Marijn Overvest | Reviewed by Sjoed Goedhart | Fact Checked by Ruud Emonds | Our editorial policy
Logrolling Negotiation — Explanation + Examples
What is logrolling in negotiation?
- Logrolling negotiation is a negotiation strategy that ensures both parties benefit from a deal.
- Logrolling negotiation trades wins or concerns during a negotiation.
- Rank negotiation issues to gauge what matters most to both parties.
What Is Logrolling in Negotiation?
In negotiation, logrolling is the process of exchanging trade-offs across different issues to reach a win-win agreement. Both parties make concessions to create value and ensure mutual satisfaction.
Thus, logrolling negotiation is a common form of negotiation that may be beneficial for everyone involved. When it is used correctly, it can be an effective negotiation tactic that ensures both sides win.
In negotiation, logrolling is the act of making trades across the issues presented in the discussion. It requires that a negotiator must know his or her priorities and also the priorities of the other side.
When negotiators encounter differences with other parties, they may see it as a roadblock. However, differences may give an opportunity to create value in negotiation. Through making tradeoffs, which we call logrolling, negotiators may gain more of what they want by giving away what they care less about.
The basic principled logrolling negotiation is trading wins or issues during a negotiation. For you to reach a compromise with the other party, one side must concede on another topic to get what they want from another. Thus, it ensures that both sides win and feels that both parties care for each other.
How to Do Logrolling in Negotiation?
For logrolling negotiation to occur, you must first try to rank the negotiation issues at hand into a hierarchy to better understand what matters most to you and to the other party. Your goal here is to give up issues that you deem not important to you. However, sometimes you may have to trade bigger issues to get the other party to do the same.
Consider it as buying a brand-new car. You have a budget in mind and the style you want. If you find a car that is within your budget range without some of your desired features such as the surround-view camera system, you may give up on your desired feature just to stay on budget.
However, the salesman may use logrolling by selling you a car that is a little over your budget but with the features that you desire if you promise to make a deal.
You must remember that developing your logrolling negotiation stats can be done by ranking the key aspects of the negotiation. It is important for you to know what you can let go of as a bargaining tactic and what remains a priority no matter the circumstances.
Examples of Logrolling Negotiation
Here are some logrolling negotiation examples that you may want to look into.
Example 1 – Exchange as a whole:
An example of logrolling negotiation is when two people go out to eat together. On one night, your date will pay for the drinks which cost $10 while you shoulder the dinner meal cost amounting to $50.
This exchange may seem unfair to you as you pay more on your date night. However, if you look at the times that the two of you had gone out to dinner to date, alternating who pays for the drinks and who pays for the meal, the price that each of you paid overtime evens out.
Example 2 – Making the other party feel valued:
Logrolling negotiation can make both parties feel seen, heard, and respected. For example, you can accept some of their terms such as the price of the product.
However, in return, you will ask them for the delivery time to be much faster than before. By doing this, you may be able to reach a compromising negotiation that will make both of you feel like you win with the result of the negotiation.
Example 3 – Logrolling negotiation in politics:
Politics provide a great example for logrolling and negotiating. Actually, the term logrolling comes from the realm of politics. Logrolling is mostly seen in Congress and during lawmaking sessions.
An example of this is when a legislator agrees to support bills or ideas if other legislators will support his or her ideas too. The negotiation allows the legislators to win instead of not achieving anything at all.
Looking Logrolling Negotiation as an Exchange
It is rare that any negotiation results in one side getting everything that they want. Negotiation can be treated as an exchange. Exchanging losses helps both parties to keep things equal and ensure that all of their voices are heard.
In logrolling negotiation, many people look at the exchange as a whole instead of individual transactions. This is due to the fact that logrolling negotiations do not always look equal when looking at the individual aspects of the issue.
However, when you weigh the value of the exchange that happened in the negotiation, you can find that there was an equal exchange of the issue. If you feel that the exchange is not even, you may keep on negotiating your point until the situation feels balanced.
Conclusion
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Frequentlyasked questions
What is logrolling in negotiation?
It is the act of making trades across the issues presented in the discussion.
What is the basic principle of logrolling?
Its basic principle is to win trades or issues during a negotiation.
How does logrolling work?
Logrolling works by giving up the things that may be deemed unimportant to you so that the other party will be forced to give up something on their part.
About the author
My name is Marijn Overvest, I’m the founder of Procurement Tactics. I have a deep passion for procurement, and I’ve upskilled over 200 procurement teams from all over the world. When I’m not working, I love running and cycling.
