Every negotiation spends more than money. In The Basics module of the Academy of Business Negotiations, Ken Trent treats time, energy, money, and emotional investment as four resources you put on the table in every deal.
If you only track the concession, you miss the real cost of staying in the conversation. The goal is still to improve your position in profit dollars. The four-resource lens tells you whether the path to those dollars is still worth the spend.
Time has a price
Prep, follow-up, and back-and-forth all consume hours. Those hours have a direct cost, plus the work you are not doing while this deal sits open. Be intentional about how much time the conversation deserves. If a deal is going nowhere, the question is not whether you can keep talking. It is whether the remaining upside is worth the hours.
Energy and emotion drain judgment
Negotiation is mentally demanding. High-stakes calls require focus and emotional control. Schedule important conversations when you are sharp, not depleted. The sneaky resource is emotional investment. The more you want a specific outcome, the easier it is to rationalize a concession that is not worth it. Name that pull before the call so it does not run the meeting.
Spend money on purpose
Direct financial commitments are the obvious resource: price, terms, funding, travel, extra support. Treat them as one line in a four-line budget. Ken’s filter is simple: do not take an action that worsens your position. Know the target in dollars. Have more than one path to that target. If the deal is costing more than it is worth in any of these four currencies, stop adding spend and re-evaluate whether the deal is still worth it.
Practical takeaway: Before the next meaningful call, budget time, energy, money, and emotional investment, then only spend what still improves your position.
Want the framework behind this? Download the free 5 Laws of Negotiation ebook: 5laws.negotiationsacademy.com
