Why False Deadlines Sabotage Successful Negotiations

This expert opinion by Ken Sterling, Executive Vice President at BigSpeak, was originally published on Inc.com.

Have you ever created a false sense of urgency when negotiating a deal? Car salespeople and scammers use this timing trick all the time. 

“My manager says this deal is only good today. If you don’t buy the car, I can’t promise this will still be here.” Or you’ll get a text about an unpaid highway toll or that someone used your credit card to purchase an iPhone. If you don’t act now, then you’ll lose lots of money. The irony is that by acting right away, you could be in line to lose lots of money. 

If creating a false sense of urgency works for scammers, it should work for everything, right? Wrong. Recently, the world learned a lesson on what happens when you create fake deadlines when negotiating. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on the rest of the world and established an arbitrary deadline for negotiating a trade deal.  

The world watched as the tariffs were initially slated to start in April, and then delayed to July, and ultimately set back to August. Some countries got further delays. Others made deals. Most didn’t. Setting an artificial deadline can sometimes have the opposite effect of what you intended. The markets seesawed. Investors went from happy to sad to happy again.  

Timing is a key element in the negotiation process. As a talent agent, media attorney, and professor at USC Gould School of Law, I teach my students and clients how to use timing in their negotiations. I’m also working on my new book, TILT the Room, coming out in 2026, which explains how you can use timing, influence, leverage, and trust to better negotiate. Here’s how you should handle deadlines. 

Set Real Deadlines. 

Set deadlines only when there are real consequences. Some things in life have real deadlines, such as taxes, trains, and theater performances. If you miss them, you might suffer financial penalties, missed connections, or an upset spouse. Deadlines create a sense of urgency and encourage people to take action. Think how many people wouldn’t pay their taxes—on time or at all—if there weren’t a deadline. 

If you have an authentic deadline that your business must meet, it’s reasonable to communicate it during the negotiation process so the other party can make a timely decision. Revealing the deadline also establishes transparency, helping you build trust with your clients and customers. 

Avoid False Deadlines. 

Since deadlines create a sense of urgency, some negotiators love to use them to hurry people to make a decision. This is also why false deadlines are a common tactic for scammers. The false deadline creates a sense of crisis, and this pressure and anxiety leads people to make hasty decisions. While this tactic works well with inexperienced negotiators, it often fails with experienced negotiators. Instead of closing a deal, you could lose a potential client or customer and any credibility you had. 

Practice Patience. 

The most important thing in timing deals is patience. My nonno taught me that patience in negotiating is like patience in fishing. If you learn to wait, good things will come. He was a building contractor and architect, and I used to tag along with him when he had meetings in Boston over at M.I.T. or one of the big office buildings they were working on.  

Before each meeting, he would remind me to observe, say less, and listen more. He would also emphasize that he was going to have a lot of pauses in the conversation. In his Sicilian accent, my grandfather told me when negotiating with a client, “Imagine you are fishing. Be patient and keep your line out as long as it takes for them to bite.”  

Patience works on both sides of the negotiation, whether you are making an offer or waiting for an answer. Taking your time to get things right will serve you in the long run. Sometimes, you might miss an opportunity. However, if you’re patient, another one will come along.