01 July The Salami Tactic in Negotiations: One Slice at a Time

The most expensive sentence in a negotiation is often: "It's just a small thing." Why? Because small requests rarely stay small. That's exactly what the Salami Tactic is all about.

Instead of putting one major demand on the table, it is broken down into a series of small, seemingly harmless requests. Each one appears perfectly reasonable on its own. Taken together, however, they gradually shift the entire balance of the negotiation.

First, it's just a small addition.
Then a minor exception.
Then a slight adjustment.
Then one more little point – "Surely we don't need to spend much time discussing this."

That's the logic behind the Salami Tactic.

A current example can be seen in the EU–US trade relationship. After months of tariff tensions, a trade agreement helped stabilize the political situation. Shortly afterward, however, a new U.S. investigation into German pharmaceutical pricing created yet another point of pressure. For negotiators, the political implications are less important than the underlying pattern:

One issue is never fully closed – it is segmented. As soon as one topic is settled, the next one emerges. And with every new "slice," the perceived baseline gradually shifts.

The Salami Tactic works because people evaluate small concessions very differently from large ones. A single small concession rarely feels significant enough to matter. But a series of small concessions can ultimately have the same impact as one major compromise.

How can you recognize the Salami Tactic?

• New "small" issues keep appearing after you thought an agreement had already been reached.
• Each additional request seems perfectly reasonable when viewed on its own.
• The other side says, "It's just a small thing."
• No one is looking at the overall package anymore – only at the individual requests.

How do you counter it?

Don't evaluate each request in isolation. Instead, ask yourself: What does this concession mean in the context of the overall deal? That's why professional negotiators keep a clear concession log. They document every movement – even the small ones – and consistently link every concession to something of equal value in return.

Stay tuned! Next week, we'll explore Tactical Silence and why so many people feel compelled to explain their offer, improve it, or reveal additional information they never intended to share.

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