If We're Explaining the Price, We're Already Losing
WMMM #107- This week, I share an example of what not to do.
Jeff Keplar Newsletter January 17, 2026 4 min read
Knowing What Not to Do Is Valuable
Continuing with the theme from the prior two weeks, empathetic negotiation is one of three High-EQ human skills that AI cannot handle.
Successful enterprise sales reps need to possess this skill.
Negotiation is a popular topic in sales.
I shared an example of a failed negotiation last week in The McCaw Cellular Story.
The story exposed the infamous “Price Goes Up on Monday” tactic.
It revealed the “Every Man” strategy for accelerating growth.
You don’t need a sales force with advanced skills to implement it.
Hire anyone with modest skills (the Every Man), give them a quota and a compensation plan with extreme financial rewards for exceeding it, and they will find the quickest and easiest path to the gold: discounting.
We cautioned what happens when “everyone” expects to receive more concessions as the clock strikes midnight at fiscal year-end.
When we lack professional negotiation skills, we often fall into other bad habits.
One of those is negotiating with yourself.
I have witnessed this behavior many times.
Just as I was about to ask Google NotebookLM to search my content for real-life stories, a perfect example fell into my lap.
This week, I share an example of what not to do in a negotiation.
“I’m a Flat-fee Guy”
I was watching the HBO Series The Night Of with Debbie.
There is a scene in Episode 3, "A Dark Crate," where attorney John Stone (John Turturro) negotiates his fee with his client’s parents.
John Stone is portrayed as the antithesis of the "celebrity lawyer."
While he is technically a "plea lawyer" or a "bottom-feeder" who trawls police precincts for clients, he possesses a worldly-wise, street-level competence that defines his character.
Stone visits their home to formalize his representation of Nasir, their son.
The dialogue highlights the “negotiate with yourself” approach and its ineffectiveness.
Here are excerpts from the transcript for that scene.
Location: The Khan Family Apartment
Characters: John Stone, Salim Khan, Safar Khan
Stone: I’m a flat-fee guy. I don’t punch a clock. You don’t want an attorney who bills by the hour. Believe me. You get a bill for every time I think about your son while I’m in the shower? No. One price. It covers everything. Arraignment, discovery, motions, hearings, and trial. The whole shebang.
Salim: And what is that price?
Stone: Seventy-five thousand dollars.
(Salim and Safar sit in stunned, heavy silence. Salim looks down at his hands, then back at Stone.)
Salim: Seventy-five... thousand?
Stone: If you went to a top-shelf firm—a place with "and Associates" in the name—they’d charge you half a million for a case like this. Minimum. And they’d bleed you dry with "administrative costs" along the way. I’m doing this for seventy-five because I’m already in. I know the case, I know the players, and I like Naz.
Salim: We have $8,000 in savings. Total.
(Stone pauses, shifting uncomfortably, his eyes darting around their modest apartment.)
Stone: Look... I'm not a monster. I see the situation. I'll tell you what. Because I’ve already started the legwork and I think the kid is being railroaded... I’ll do it for fifty.
(If we were really serious about $75,000, we removed the credibility of that number by dropping to $50,000 in a matter of seconds. Does anyone really believe at this point that $50,000 is John Stone’s fee?)
Salim: Fifty is still...
Stone: I need thirty up front. The other twenty... we’ll work it out. Payment plan. Whatever you can handle monthly. But I need that thirty to keep the lights on and get the experts we’re gonna need.
(Instead of asking questions, John Stone isn’t even listening to Salim. He is interrupting him. This is the kiss of death in professional negotiation and professional sales - talking when we should be listening.)
Salim: Thirty thousand. Even that... it's...
Stone: I’m not gonna lie to you. This is a mountain. But I’m the guy who’s gonna climb it with him. You want someone who knows the trenches, not someone who sits in a corner office on the 50th floor. I’m your man.
Does anyone think that John Stone’s negotiation tactics succeeded?
Stone champions the underdog, but his $75,000 fee versus the Khans’ $8,000 savings highlights how even 'affordable' legal help is unaffordable for some.
If they only have $8,000, dropping to $50,000 won’t get it done.
And it didn’t.
This specific financial desperation is what makes the Khans so vulnerable to Allison Crowe later in the episode.
When she offers to take the case *pro bono* (for free), they see it as a miracle, not realizing that Stone’s "trenches" approach might have actually been more effective than her firm’s polished PR strategy.
Crowe listened to the Khans.
She heard them say they only had $8,000.
She knew her number had to be less than $8,000.
She quickly calculated that she could drive more value (than an $8,000 fee would deliver) for her firm with the “free” advertising she would receive due to the media coverage of Nasir’s trial.
Lessons…
1) Don’t negotiate with yourself.
2) Acquire the professional negotiation skills consistent with High-EQ human skills.
3) Always listen twice as much as we speak.
Thank you for reading,
Jeff
