When a product or process is hurting your P&L, the reflex is to demand a fix. In the Daily Tactics module of the Academy of Business Negotiations, Issue Resolution Deferment does the opposite. You put the problem on the table as a shared challenge and ask your counterpart how to solve it.
You are not hiding the issue. You are handing them the work of proposing the fix, which often produces a better answer than a demand would.
Frame the problem, then ask
Present the challenge in commercial terms, then end with a question that puts resolution on their side of the table. A return rate running at twice the category average is not a lecture. It is a profitability problem: “That is making it hard to hold competitive price points. How can we prevent that?”
The question is the deferment. You have named the issue. You have not prescribed the remedy. They now own the next move.
Why they fund their own idea
People protect their own ideas. When Funko POPs created inventory damage through chase-variant returns, Ken did not dictate packaging changes. He framed the problem and asked how to address it together. Funko’s team proposed bubble wrapping, presented it as their idea, and covered the labor and materials.
That is the point of the tactic. The counterpart who designs the solution is more likely to fund it and execute it.
Use it on bigger deals too
The same move works beyond a SKU issue. In a stuck contract conversation, bring the constraint as something both sides are up against. Then ask how to solve it together. Adversarial framing produces defense. Shared-problem framing produces options you would not have gotten by issuing a demand.
Practical takeaway: State the commercial problem, ask how they would solve it, and let their proposal do the work.
Want the framework behind this? Download the free 5 Laws of Negotiation ebook: 5laws.negotiationsacademy.com
