Interests vs Position in Negotiations — Case: Product vs Sales
A practical example to distinguish the concrete demand (position) from the underlying reason (interest) and thus find solutions that satisfy both parties.
When departments speak different “languages” (technical vs commercial) discussions get stuck. Separating position and interest allows designing smart concessions—rarely is the best answer simply to give in or impose.
Below you will find a concrete scenario, the extraction of positions and interests, and a brief explanation of why this separation opens practical alternatives (temporary arrangement, acceptance criteria, shared metrics).
Scenario 1 — Feature Priority between Product and Sales
Common conflict: prioritize a feature that closes a client now vs maintaining the technical roadmap and long-term quality.
Context
Product has a roadmap with technical features; Sales pressures to prioritize features that allow closing a big client this week.
Objectives
Product: maintain clean architecture and avoid technical debt. Sales: deliver commercial results and ensure client renewal.
Blocker
Lack of a common metric to assess commercial impact vs technical cost — each side speaks its own language and there is no clear data to decide who yields.
Scenario detail and practical reminder
Practical note: This reminds me of a sprint where we asked for “just a tweak” and it ended up being 3 weeks of hotfixes. Unlimited commitments end up costing more.
- Summary context: A big client requests a small functionality that for Sales is critical and urgent.
- Risk for Product: introducing technical debt, breaking architecture consistency, generating rework.
- Risk for Sales: losing the sale or renewal if a solution is not delivered within the requested timeframe.
Interests and positions
Product
Position: Do not introduce the new feature now; continue with the technical roadmap.
Interests: Maintain long-term product quality and health; minimize technical debt and operational risks.
Sales
Position: Prioritize and launch the feature immediately to close the client this week.
Interests: Meet commercial goals, retain/renew the client, and generate short-term revenue.
Difference between position and interest in this case
The position is the concrete demand (to do or not do the feature now). The interest is the underlying reason (technical health vs revenue/retention).
Understanding interests opens creative options that satisfy both parties—it’s not just about giving in, but finding adjustments with limits, metrics, and guarantees.
- Examples of interest-based solutions (not just position-based):
- Limited temporary arrangement: implement a “just for that client” version with very controlled scope and mandatory review date.
- Technical acceptance criteria: define preconditions (automated tests, usage limits, guardrails) before launch.
- Shared value metric: agree on KPIs (expected commercial impact in 30/60/90 days) and compare against estimated technical cost.
- Compensation for technical debt: Sales agrees to a future prioritization plan to clean up introduced technical debt.
- Feature flagging and controlled rollout: deploy behind a flag to minimize impact and allow quick rollback.
- Immediate practical action: Gather within 24–48h a brief RFC with:
- Description of the proposed change and minimum scope.
- Expected commercial impact (estimated value, client, and risk of losing them).
- Estimated technical cost and mitigations (flag, tests, review date).
- Joint metric to decide whether to keep or revert the solution (e.g., MRR/attributable retention in 60 days).
Quick recommendations
- Always separate position and interest at the start of the conversation. Ask each party to summarize their interest in one line.
- Avoid “just a tweak” commitments without limits: document scope, criteria, and review date.
- Establish shared metrics (commercial and technical) to evaluate the success of the quick delivery.
- If a quick solution is delivered, plan and commit resources for technical debt reduction in the subsequent roadmap.
If you want, I can turn the above into an RFC template or minutes with points to be signed by Product and Sales before the quick launch.