Resources
We hope that business negotiators find what they're searching for in our free resources. This is the next best thing to coming to one of our negotiation training courses.
Negotiation Simulation Training Online Game
Think of your past training courses. How much do you remember, and how much are you still using? If you're like most people, you'll have forgotten most of it. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. Years ago we were so frustrated with this challenge that we decided to do something about it. We set about creating a world-first negotiation simulation platform. Read our latest testimonials to see how much our clients love using our simulator to learn in the classroom and then again to reinforce
Post Training Assessment
How do you know that your negotiation training has been successful? Most companies look to their feedback forms, which we affectionately call the “happy sheets.” We recommend waiting three months before assessing your graduates. We score our assessments with a pass mark of 50%.
Customized Negotiation Sim Games
The most loved part of our negotiation training courses, earning the most praise in our feedback forms, is our industry-leading negotiation sim games. Graduates feel more confident when given the opportunity to deploy the skills and tools they’ve acquired in a customized sim game modeled around your products and market. Very few negotiation training providers possess the expertise to create customized negotiation role-play exercises. However, we’ve been designing
20 Best Sales Training Companies Programs & Courses 2025
Effective sales training has a direct correlation to high-performing sales teams. According to McKinsey, stronger sales training relates to stronger performance across key skill areas. Sales training often results in higher opportunity win rates, and maximum value through pricing and volume. It can also increase the ability to fill sales pipelines and grow accounts.
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How to Boost Your Sales Skills: 7 Surprising Tips
To hit their quotas, salespeople need a wide array of skills. From time management and people management to product expertise and value propositions. These skills are increasingly becoming crucial for even non-sales personnel. If you're looking to upgrade your sales skills, you may need a sales readiness strategy. Training and coaching can support the development of critical sales skills to close more deals faster. Here are seven insider tips that may seem unconventional
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5 of the Best Sales Training Games: Boost Your Skills and Have Fun
Your sales team works under lots of pressure to close deals and hit sales quotas. How can you, as a leader, ensure that your team members are regularly learning and improving on their performance? How do you find training that's enjoyable and lessons that stick long after the training exercise has ended? Using game-based training significantly minimizes costs while enhancing retention. Five of the best games that are fun and boost long-lasting sales skills include: 1. The
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How Do The Best Sales Training Activities Drive Results?
How was your company's sales event last year? Was it the same tired and tedious talk about the numbers plus a few group exercises? Too often we hear sales forces complaining of events and training that are low energy and don’t change behavior. At the same time, managers criticize low training ROI (return on investment). Plus, most reps forget their training and slide back into past behaviors within weeks. So how can sales leaders and facilitators improve on sales training outcomes?
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How is Gamification Revolutionizing Training?
At first, I was afraid, I was petrified…to mention the 4 letter ‘G’ word to clients. I’m embarrassed to admit that ten years ago I scolded my team when they talked about our serious business sim being a mere ‘game’. Back then I believed that accomplished B2B global leaders would not pay for their team to spend valuable company time playing games. Yet, it’s become trendy to use gamification in training courses. But what is gamification good for? In this post, I will
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Sim Game Lesson #1: Opening Offers
Opening Offers Want to quickly know whether the negotiation pro you’re talking with is any good? Ask them whether you should be making the opening offer or if you should allow others to make the first offer. If they don’t immediately and emphatically respond that you should make the opening offer, don’t walk away, run! We have been instructing clients on the value of making the opening offer and how to best ensure that your offer gives you the advantage for over two decades,
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Sim Game Lesson #2: Anchoring
Negotiation Anchoring It’s not enough to simply make the first offer to seize the negotiation advantage. You must also anchor your offer. How do you anchor an offer? You ensure that the conversation keeps the spotlight on your offer for long enough. Think of your anchor as a ship’s anchor. If the ship’s anchor hasn’t sunk deep enough, the ship will be moved by the current and waves. If others make the mistake of investing their time arguing against your opening offer, your
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Marriage Negotiation
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Issues in Negotiation: How to Solve a Problem
Negotiators can often fail to understand the real underlying issues of a problem. Meaning, these negotiators lack a key insight into what the basis for the negotiation really is. All too often, negotiators don't train themselves to identify and frame the issues in negotiation to resolve. Negotiation skills courses often emphasize that if this crucial first step of the negotiation process is not addressed properly, it's quite likely that the rest of the negotiation process
Case Studies
Negotiation Skills
What is negotiation skills? Negotiation skills are required to secure better agreements in our personal and business lives. Negotiating skills include methods of: Communicating Persuading and influencing Planning Strategizing Employing tactics, techniques, tools, systems, processes, and teamwork Negotiation skills can be learned. Meaning, "born negotiators" are a myth. Successful negotiators need to develop a variety of skills. These are drawn from various disciplines.
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Hiring a Freelance Professional Negotiation Consultant
We'll answer your question by sharing general advice on how to choose between the many companies offering you commercial negotiation consultancy services. You're also welcome to call or email us to share more, and take our specific advice on choosing your professional freelancer negotiation consultant with zero commitment or charge. Freelance negotiators are referred to as Agents. Freelance consultants are professionals who represent the interests of the principal
Questions & Answers
How to Negotiate Price with Supplier?
To get someone to give you more of what you want, you'll find that giving them more of what they want will go a long way. So what do your suppliers value? Vendors or professional sellers the world over are overwhelmingly measured and rewarded on revenue, not margin. Margin usually acts as a constraint to sellers' ambitions. So your best routes to achieving cost savings include: Can you increase the size of your order or buy additional products or services from your vendor? If you
Questions & Answers
Sales Training Tips to Avoid Price Discounting
Professional buyers the world over are almost always measured and rewarded on cost savings - not value created. So a sellers' best route to achieving higher prices and margins include: Are you talking with buyers' internal stakeholders BEFORE you have to talk with the buyer? Most Buyers who graduate from our Procurement Negotiation Training complain that managing their internal stakeholders is their single biggest challenge. If this is news to you, as it is for most sales
Questions & Answers
Team Negotiation Diagnostic Profiling
Question: "How accurately can you or your team name and rank others' top four negotiation goals or objectives?" The above graph shows a significant upside opportunity for the team. Would you find it useful to gauge your team's areas of negotiation strength and weakness? We will identify your team's areas of negotiation strength, gaps, and weaknesses. What would your team’s response to this key question look like? Why does our diagnostic profile uncover valuable insights?
Podcast: Sales Training on Price Increases
Paul: How do sales professionals feel when they hear their bosses’ words: “We need you to go get us a price increase”? Most salespeople love asking for price increases about as much as getting a root canal. Sales professionals worry about hurting the customer relationship they’ve worked so hard to build, and fear losing the business.This is Negotiation Expert Paul Kinsella. Calum: And this is Negotiation Expert Calum Coburn. In this podcast we’ll be discussing
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How to Fire Tech Support
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Negotiating with WalMart Buyers
WalMart, the world's largest retailer, sold $514.4 billion worth of goods in 2019. With its single-minded focus on "EDLP" (everyday low prices) and the power to make or break; suppliers, a partnership with Walmart is either the Holy Grail or the kiss of death, depending on one's perspective. There are numerous media accounts of the corporate monolith riding its suppliers into the ground. But what about those who manage to survive, and thrive, while dealing with the classic
Case Studies
Negotiation Tactics
Negotiation tactics are the detailed methods employed by negotiators to gain an advantage. Negotiation tactics are often deceptive and manipulative. Often, negotiators use negotiation tactics to fulfill their own goals and objectives. This is often to the detriment of others, making most tactics in use today "win-lose" by nature. We would like to caution negotiators to only make use of ethical negotiation tactics. We would advise thinking first about the context of your
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How Important Is Building Trust in Negotiating Agreements?
Nowadays, it is difficult to make a deal if there is no trust in negotiations. Even if a negotiator manages to make such a deal, it will be very challenging to implement it. Building trust is essential in any meaningful long-term relationship. In business, this is regardless of whether you're selling, buying, or resolving conflict. Most deals, even one-time deals, have consequences in the future. Roger Fisher wrote about the importance of trust, and principled negotiation
Questions & Answers
Facilitated Video Review
Our video reviews have destroyed our Negotiation Experts' egos. Why? No matter how captivating our slides or crafted our words, our facilitated video reviews still win our clients' highest praise. How often have you walked away from a negotiation wondering: “How could I have done even better?” or “What did I miss?” or “Why was that so tough?” or “Why don't all my negotiations go as well as this deal?” If these questions sound familiar, then you'll likely begin
Best Sales Training Advice on How to Increase Your Prices
No customer wants to stomach a price increase. Sadly though, as long as central banks control our currencies, salespeople will need to keep up by increasing prices. It's simple arithmetic of more currency chasing the same amount of products and services. Not only are buyers trained to say ‘no’ to price increases, but most buyers also avoid meeting to so much as allow sellers to discuss price increases. Fortunately, yours is a well-trodden path. Our expert sales negotiation
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Renegotiation - Snake Charmer
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How Microsoft Outnegotiated Netscape in the Browser War
Microsoft vs. Netscape: Strategies Back in 1996, Steve Case’s AOL was urgently seeking a top-notch internet browser to market AOL's products. Both Bill Gates’ Microsoft and Netscape Navigator were vying with AOL to take them on as a client. In terms of their best alternative (BATNA), Netscape held a decisive advantage due to its strong technical superiority and dominance in the browser market. Microsoft was just in the process of entering the market and held a fledgling
Case Studies
Negotiation Strategy
A predetermined approach or prepared plan of action to achieve a goal or objective to make an agreement or contract. (also see Negotiation Tactics.) To learn more, read this check-list to prepare your negotiation strategy.
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Outsourced Contract Negotiator
Outsourcing the finding and negotiating of your contracts is akin to outsourcing marketing and sales negotiation. I don't know of any company who successfully outsources these crucial areas. You may do better to seek a business partner or employee with these crucial skills before setting up your company. The risk you would expose yourselves to, should something happen to this pivotal person, would be large. I'm going to focus on the negotiation aspect, as this is our area of
Questions & Answers
Our Client Collaboration Approach
Clients trust our 5 phase Client Collaboration Approach for the creation of their in-house training solutions. Stage 1: Requirements Definition Following our initial discussions, a Company Key will be created for the your delegates in order that they may complete our online Negotiation Diagnostic Profile™. One of the positive effects of this is the engendering of a sense of ownership and influence with regards the training solution. This in turn leads to greater acceptance
16 Best Negotiation Training Courses for 2025
Eight negotiation experts agreed on this up-to-date list of the best negotiation courses for 2025 for both classroom and online. We hope that their research will save you time and help you choose the best negotiation course.
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'If-Then' in Negotiation
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Trust Building in a Trilateral China Japan Western Negotiation
Overview This complex, ongoing negotiation involves three countries, each with players who have their own agenda and preferred outcome. Although at the time of writing the negotiation had yet to become hard-nosed regarding price, delivery, and technology, it shows how relationships develop over time and some of the dynamics at play in this relatively early phase. The Scene Our company (English owned, with regional headquarters in Hong Kong, a joint venture in Japan, and
Case Studies
Negotiation Styles
The most popular way to divide the typical negotiation styles or approaches are: Competing (Aggressive or Disagreeable) Collaborating (or Cooperating) Avoiding Compromising Accommodating (Conceding or Agreeable) Most negotiators have one or two preferred negotiation styles. It's ideal to be able to choose to apply the most appropriate negotiation style to each type of negotiation. In fact, skilled negotiators are flexible in switching their negotiating styles depending
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Internal Team Negotiations
The answer to this question really depends on the situation surrounding the negotiations. Lets explore lesser discussed of the two negotiation:s internal or intra-team. What do you need to bear in mind when preparing for internal or intra-team negotiations? Your success in intra-team or internal negotiations will all too often float or sink depending on how well you've prepared for your stakeholders or colleagues. These factors include: the relative strength of each person
Questions & Answers
Value Creation Framework
We owe a debt of gratitude to our clients for generously sharing their feedback over the years on our Negotiation Value Creation Framework™ and supporting toolsets. Without our clients’ collaboration in refining and proving the value of our strategies, tool-sets, and processes in the tough and tempered world of their commercial negotiations, our Value Creation Framework™ could not have evolved into the rigourous trusted negotiation methodology it is has become
The Best Salary Negotiation Training Skills for College Students
College Students and Negotiation Experience Sometimes, college graduates are lucky enough for their employer pay for their spot on one of our negotiation seminars. So, how well do college graduates perform on our negotiation skills seminars? College students almost always get the lowest scores using our online negotiation simulation role-plays. Also, college students tend to struggle to hold their own against seasoned negotiators in our classes. Despite this, our college
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Pay Rise Negotiation
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Nepal–India Water Negotiations (Power Asymmetry)
Asymmetry of Power Between Nepal and India India is 40 times larger in land area than Nepal, and India was hungry to meet its increasing electrical power needs. Nepal is one of the poorest nations in the world. It's also economically linked to India due to its geographic situation. However, Nepal’s water wealth is enormous. Several studies revealed that 89 sites within Nepal are potentially capable of producing 30 gigawatts (GW) of hydroelectric power to energy-starved
Case Studies
Win-Win Negotiation
A win-win negotiation settlement is an integrative negotiated agreement. In theory, this means the negotiating sides have reached an agreement after fully taking into account each other's interests, such that the agreement cannot be improved upon further by any other agreement. By definition, there are no resources or "gold" left on the table and all creative options have been thoroughly exploited. "Win-win" has its roots in Economics Game Theory.
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Is Principled Negotiation used in Business?
Most readers may appreciate a short introduction to the phrase 'Principled Negotiation'. 'Principled Negotiation' became known to the world from Fisher and Ury's seminal book "Getting to Yes" (Check out our book review). The phrase 'Principled Negotiation' has become synonymous with the phrase "win win", so you will often find these two phrases used interchangeably. So who uses "Principled Negotiation"? Mainly Northern American Academics and Mediators. Why? Principled
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Deal Consultancy Services
The Negotiation Experts support clients after the delivery of training. We do this in two ways: Deal consultancy services either side by side with clients or limited to the preparation cycle. Leveraging upon the success of our negotiation training courses,we collaborate with clients on their using our toolsets and techniques taught from afar, through coaching managers on how they can inspect and audit their teams, as well as through team discussions and team meetings. We
Sales Negotiation Questions to Get to the Decision Maker
We coach our clients to ask for the decision-makers - especially in the best Sales Negotiation Training and our Advanced Negotiation Training courses. Too many people ask ineffective questions like, "Do you make the decisions?" or "Are you the decision-maker?" to which most will answer "Yes." Why do people answer 'Yes' when they're not really the decision-maker? Simply because everyone wants to think of themselves as important. So, how do you get to your real decision-makers?
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Torture Chamber
Business Expansion Woven From Trust
Become a part of a foreign society Another example of someone who fitted in completely with the Chinese is the China trader Paul Winestock, who had been dealing with the Chinese since the 1960s. As a trader of textiles in China during the 1960s and 1970s, Winestock built up a large network of customers and friendly officials. One of the latter, who had known him since he was a young man living in drafty provincial hotels with no dining room, was Li Haoran, who had first appointed Winestock
Case Studies
Negotiation Meeting
Negotiation meetings are typically where most of the deal is negotiated, with business negotiation meetings these days being face to face and via voice. The proper planning and effective running of negotiating meetings can make or break a deal. The more complexity involved, the more important getting the negotiation meeting planned correctly becomes. Negotiation meeting factors to plan: Who should and who shouldn't attend, how long each person need attend, team versus
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Personal Power in Negotiation
Dealing with power in negotiation should be done with great care. Before using power in any negotiation, be sure to analyse all the possible consequences of using that power. Remember that after you have used your power, you usually dissipate your power. Four important sources of personal power include: Authority or expert power (conferred by your knowledge or qualification on a matter or issue) Personal credibility (conferred by your experience and past track record) The
Questions & Answers
Top 5 Negotiation Skills
At the start of our negotiation skills training courses, we ask students what makes them feel uneasy about negotiating. Their answers often include: "I'm afraid I won't get the best deal." "I don't enjoy working with certain types of people." "I'm not always sure what needs to be achieved in a particular negotiation and how to get there." "I can get lost in the process and bogged down in details. I lose track of what I really want to achieve." This article gives some helpful tips on
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Salary Negotiation
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Camp David Third Party Intervener
There are occasions when negotiating parties cannot see the forest for the trees. They are unable to see past their own goals and interests which prevent them from arriving at a successful negotiated multiparty agreement. These are the instances when a third party intervener can help both parties find a solution to the dilemma that is plaguing their talks that have likely stalled. The Egyptian and Israeli conflict of the mid 1970’s posed that kind of dilemma. There were also
Case Studies
Concession Strategy
Your concession strategy is a plan of the goals / positions and sometimes the underlying interests that you will be trading with the other party. Before you enter the negotiations, at the very least you should have clarity on your and the other party's goals, and an sequence of which goals you want to trade or exchange. Concession strategies vary in detail. 'Concession Strategy' is more accurately called the 'Trading Plan'.
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IMF World Bank Debt Governance and Corruption
I read with a knowing smile your words: 'say... they have committed mischief'. For those who invest the time to make themselves knowledgeable by reading about the IMF's corruption and debt governance, particularly from trusted reputable sources online, there can be little doubt that the business of the World Bank, IMF and FED is to commit crimes against humanity for their member bank's benefit. As a negotiator, it's crucial that you start by getting to understand the history
Questions & Answers
9 Steps for Negotiation Preparation Success
Have you ever left a negotiation feeling battered and bruised like you never had a chance from the word go? Too often, I've seen smart yet unprepared sales professionals torn apart in their meetings. Admittedly, I suffered similarly early in my career. I notched my initial failings up to being part of my hard knocks sales negotiation training journey. Does the path to negotiation success have to be treacherous? I’m a big believer in practicing before the game, not in the game.
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Gates of Heaven
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Negotiation Game
A few negotiation training courses make use of negotiation simulation exercises delivered using online negotiation training games. In this way, technology can be leveraged to teach participants essential principles of negotiation, psychology or influence in a fun and interactive environment. Some games are played between pairs, whilst others involve a room full of people. The purpose of most negotiation training games is to win, and sometimes to avoid losing. Many negotiation
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Influencing Decisions in Risk Averse Organisations
Welcome to negotiating internally within the constraints of most risk or loss averse corporate hierarchies. Telling you that you're not alone doesn't go very far to helping you make progress. So here are a few hot spot areas to focus your attention and assist you in achieving maximum internal negotiation skill leverage. What is your company's decision making process? I'm not referring to the organisation chart. One of the best ways to find out how your company 'really' makes
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Types
Negotiation is a part of everyday life. Think of kids trading cards or when you ask for a salary raise at work. Even a trip to the farmer's market may involve some haggling to score a bargain. We often also use our negotiation skills to maintain our personal relationships. For instance, trying to find the middle ground when organizing events with family and friends. Or even budgeting with a partner. Getting your children to bed may sometimes take sales training level skills. At
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Negotiation Tactics
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The Cost of Death on Chinese Roads
Overview Mark Rogers is an English expatriate in Beijing, where he is the finance director of the branch of a U.S. multinational. He has been in China for seven years, during most of which he has held a Chinese driving license and driven on Chinese roads. In 2004, he was driving to the famous Shaolin Temple, a few hours south of Beijing. An hour out of Beijing, it started to rain heavily, and on taking a sharp turn in the road in Hebei province, he accidentally drove into two pedestrians,
Case Studies
Principled Negotiation
Principled negotiation is an interest-based approach to negotiation that focusses primarily on conflict management and conflict resolution. Principled negotiation uses an integrative approach to finding a mutually shared outcome. First explained in the book Getting to Yes, principled negotiation is used mostly in North America. The concept is more popular amongst academics and mediators than in business. Business to business sellers have criticized those academics
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Contract Bidding and Negotiation Process
Very often we deal with the problem at hand, never noticing that we've completely missed the 'real' issue. So I suggest that you step back from the contract bidding process or tender negotiation and ask yourself a few negotiation questions. Why after 25 years was your contract put up for tender? If this was due to: A deteriorated relationship, then invest time improving your negotiation relationships first. If trust is at an all time low, then consider apologising for any past
Questions & Answers
BATNA Explained
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is an old saying that has stood the test of time. To a negotiator, this wise old proverb illustrates that if you only negotiate with one other negotiating team, you may end up with a rotten deal. In fact, you may end up with no deal at all. You need to have a strong alternative waiting in the wings to have the power to say "no." Netscape’s BATNA Blunder This site’s case studies are rife with real-life examples of BATNA being the single biggest
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Negotiation Ultimatum
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The Panama Canal Negotiations
The successful construction of the Panama Canal was one of the world's great engineering feats. The negotiations to complete and build this vital connector between two oceans spans decades. The cost in human lives, suffering, and capital staggers the imagination. It all began in 1847 when the United States entered in a treaty with New Granada (later to be know as Colombia), allowing the U.S. a transit passage over the Isthmus of Panama. The treaty guaranteed Panama's neutrality
Case Studies
Negotiation Agenda
A formal agreed upon list of goals to be achieved or items to be discussed in a particular order during a meeting or negotiation. Agendas can be formal and obvious, or informal and subtle in negotiations. A negotiation agenda can be used to control the negotiation meeting.
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Hosting Negotiations – Serving Food at a Meeting
Yes, usually serving food is a good idea. This is a question that seems to be addressed only in the best sales training workshops. Generally speaking, the more informal and less people present, the more collaborative your meeting will be. Eating together is another form of informality. One of the big benefits will include information flowing more freely. Best to manage their expectations. So if you are hosting the meeting, best to let the other party know that you'll be serving
Questions & Answers
32 of the Best Salary Negotiation Tips
You're good at what you do—maybe you're even an ace. Are you being paid what you're worth? How many of these 32 salary negotiation tips are you using to get paid what you're worth? Sales professionals are still rewarded with the biggest pay packets. Are sales professionals better qualified or smarter than other professions? No, there's no such thing as a sales degree. Do sales professionals work longer or harder? Not really. So why, then, are IT and other non-sales related fields
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Mediation
Contract Renegotiation with the Chilean Government
Negotiation value In the 1960s, Kennecott (Rio Tinto), a US company, was about to enter into renegotiation over its contract with the government of Chile concerning its El Teniente copper mine. At the time, Chile’s best alternative (BATNA) appeared overwhelmingly strong as the government took a strong pro-sovereignty stance toward foreign management of its natural resources. Can we take some lessons for our mortgage renegotiations? The government of Chile was politically
Case Studies
Negotiation Walk Away
Negotiation Walk away is the alternative that a negotiator will act on if they are not successful in a negotiation. A walk away may be an alternative supplier or buyer, to manufacture the product or deliver the service in-house, to wait or simply do nothing i.e. to go without. The walk away answers the negotiation question: "What will you do if you don't agree this deal?"
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Power Imbalance in Negotiation
Whilst integrative negotiation will be generally less effective where there is a significant imbalance in negotiation power between the parties, this does not necessarily mean that the situation cannot be remedied. Accepting the fact that the balance of negotiation power is a dynamic concept, the weaker party in this situation has a number of strategic options: Having assessed the power balance between your side and the other, consider ways and means of: improving your
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Skills: Top 10 Interview Questions and Answers
Ever clenched your jaw at a tough interview question? If not, it's only a matter of time until you do, or you're working for daddy. I used to hate job interviews, and I confess that I usually wasn't invited back for a second interview. I got so frustrated with the questions, so I researched psychology and business books, and I published a book on the top 100 questions. Yes, I guess this makes me an obsessive freak. This article distills my top 10 toughest interview questions of all time
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Business Mediation Medium
A Negotiation Case Study: Exploring the Enron Case in India
Case Conditions In the early 1990s, the US energy giant Enron decided it needed to diversify. This meant expanding its growth abroad with emerging countries. In June of 1992, Enron engaged in negotiations with the government of India. Enron had identified the state of Maharashtra to negotiate a major energy project. Maharashtra was the third largest state in India with a population of roughly 79M, containing India’s commercial capital of Mumbai. The Congress Party governed
Case Studies
Negotiation ZOPA
An acronym which means a negotiation Zone of Possible Agreement. It is the range or area in which an agreement is satisfactory to both parties involved in the negotiation process. Often also referred to as the "Contracting Zone". Negotiation ZOPA or the Contracting Zone is the range between each parties Walk Away or Real Base or Bottom Lines, and is the overlap area that each party is willing to pay or find acceptable in a negotiation.
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How to Negotiate a Job Title
Most business professionals focus on the money and benefits, giving too little attention to their job title. Job titles are useful when it comes to your NEXT move, so plan ahead. So well done for casting your net widely in your new job negotiation. We recommend your follow our 7 step process to negotiate your job title: Identify who is responsible for your job title change. If you don't already have a relationship with them, build your relationships before you ask for your title
Questions & Answers
The Four Phases of The Negotiation Process
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." John F. Kennedy If you sit down and analyze your negotiation preparation, specific patterns should begin to appear. It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Without consciously being aware, most of us realize that we are approaching negotiations inconsistently. Perhaps even haphazardly. There are many benefits to following a tried and tested formula for repeated success. Negotiation skills without
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Japanese Cultural Mistakes
Scientists and Bureaucrats - Orientation Issues
Overview This case study involves attempts to set up a bilateral scientific research arrangement involving Chinese scientists and Australian government representatives based in the nation’s capital, Canberra. The discussions are ongoing. Three face-to-face meetings between Chinese and Australians have already been held, the first in the United States in 1999 and the subsequent two in Europe in 2001 and 2003. The setting, each time an international scientific conference
Win-Lose Negotiation
Win-Lose refers to a distributive negotiation where one negotiator's gain the other negotiator’s loss. Both negotiators are typically competing to take away or claim the most value from their negotiation. Also called the ‘fixed-pie’ scenario, in that there is only a limited amount to be distributed. The term 'win-lose' was popularized by ‘game theory’. (The counter-side is known as Lose-Win Negotiation).
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Japanese Negotiation Silence
You look to be suffering from 2 challenges. Firstly, Japanese Negotiators are famed for putting face saving first - yours and theirs. By contrast western negotiators are more concerned about rapidly progressing the relationship or contract, or knowing the reason why they are not interested in taking the contract forward. It's likely that your Japanese counterparty negotiators are saving you from the possible embarrassment of hearing that they have not chosen you as a supplier.
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Styles
Understanding the Five Negotiation Styles People often ask, "which is the best negotiation style?" As with much management theory, there is no single "best" approach. All five profiles of dealing with stressful and high-pressure negotiations are useful. Determining which to use depends on the given situation. Although we're capable of using all five, we have noticed in our sales negotiation training and contract negotiation training that participants tend to use between
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Concession Excitement
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Gaming in Shanghai
Overview HyperHawk, one of the world’s major providers of global supply management software and services, helps companies reduce costs through efficient product and services sourcing. At the time of writing, HyperHawk had handled more than $50 billion worth of products and services in the oil and gas, other natural resources, retail, transport, finance, and industrial sectors for customers including General Motors, Nestlé, Shell, Japan Energy, Mitsubishi, and
Case Studies
Unanimity Rule
A process often employed in ‘Group’ or ‘Multi Party’ negotiations to reach a decision or agreement by the involved negotiating parties. A unanimous decision is only achieved when all the negotiating parties are in total accord in making a decision or an agreement.
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Positional Union and Management Negotiators
In the U.S. it's illegal for management to not negotiate past its first offer. From what you've described, it sounds like management are being competitive, positional and may not want to negotiate. If you take their 'position' seriously, then two options include asking them to come back when they are ready to negotiate, or to make a counter proposal. [resourcePageOnlineCourses]Framing I would suggest that you prepare a carefully worded 'negotiation frame' to talk about
Questions & Answers
Do You Know When They're Lying?
Is lying just a part of negotiation? Recent studies about lying revealed that complete strangers lie to one another at least three times within the first couple of minutes of meeting one another. Additional research declares that you will be lied to today anywhere between ten and two hundred times! Typical lies told by both men and women include: "I'm on my way." "I'm stuck in traffic." "Sorry I missed your call." "I'm fine thanks" The most common workplace lies: "I'm sick. I won't
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Competitive Negotiation
Andorra Versus the European Community (EC)
Andorra Versus the EC: Negotiations As a vestige of Charlemagne’s Empire, Andorra is a small land-locked principality snuggled between France and Spain. The President of France and the Bishop of Ugrell of Spain jointly govern Andorra as co-princes. They hold sovereign power over the principality except on issues of economic and social matters. Two parallel agreements ruled Andorra's trade, negotiated between France and Spain. When the EU negotiated to admit Spain into
Case Studies
Negotiation Trade-Off
Also sometimes referred to as a ‘Concession’ where one or more parties to a negotiation engage in conceding, yielding, or compromising on issues under negotiation and do so either willingly or unwillingly.
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Negotiation with Chinese - Business Concessions
Why should he propose concessions? His behaviour looks perfectly professional and clever to me. It has put the foreign team on the defensive. Nice one. It might also be the case that the foreigner has introduced "positional negotiation" far too early. If so, that makes me feel that the foreign team has been quite naive - naive in that they expect a sort of tit for that, the Chinese "have" to give a concession now that the foreigners have "so properly" put their position on the table.
Questions & Answers
RFI RFQ RFP Meaning
What is the meaning of RFQ, RFI, RFP, and RFT? Contract negotiation training graduates often ask us to explain four key terms that comprise the 'RFx' processes (i.e. RFI, RFQ, RFT, and RFP). These processes have grown in popularity in procurement and purchasing. This is especially so in large organizations with professional buyers, purchasing managers, procurement managers, and sourcing managers. The best negotiation training classes teach how to select and use each RFx
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Bargain Brain Surgery
Cartoons
How Giving Face in China Translates to Negotiation Success
Overview Rod Zemanek, the principal negotiator, designer and Project Manager of an Australian chemical engineering consultancy, (Predict Pty Ltd) has a warning for those wanting to do business in China: “Many Chinese see it as their patriotic duty to shoot down foreigners, so you can be like a clay pigeon at target practice.” Despite this, Rod Zemanek has been successful in China and is responsible for the design of many of the country’s modern breweries. He was invited
Case Studies
Negotiation Trading Plan
A negotiation trading plan is a table or spreadsheet that sets out which goals / positions / tradables you are going to exchange or trade with the other party. A trading plan is an essential part of negotiation preparation, especially for complex negotiations. Trading plans should not only identify the goals of each party, trading plans should also rank these goals for each party and set out which goals you want to trade together. The Negotiation Experts clients are trained to
Definitions
Employment Contract Negotiation
In considering how to approach negotiating a pre-employment job offer there are a number of areas you can research beforehand. Preparing for a negotiation is vital to getting the best employment agreement. Having more information at your fingertips will give you a good idea of the list of questions you will need to ask at the interview. Write out your negotiation questions in a manner that will give you best possible information so you can consider the pros and cons. By eliciting
Questions & Answers
Shaving Margins
Creative Problem-Solving in Negotiations
Creative Problem-Solving All too often, negotiators can become bound as they commit to taking a competitive approach to their negotiation. As a result, they don't allow themselves to be flexible or to consider a creative approach. Taking a versatile approach with outside-the-box thinking can generate more value from the negotiations. On the other hand, a common error committed by those who believe they are taking the win-win approach to their talks is to overcompensate
Case Studies
Negotiation Target
The desired negotiation outcome or goal decided at the start of the negotiation. This is best set across each and every aspect of a negotiation (e.g. price, term, volume etc). Some organisations set an ambitious negotiation aspiration or opening offer, and a less ambitious negotiation target, while for others these are one in the same. The level of negotiation aspiration is heavily influenced by a country's culture, with the Germans setting lower aspirations and the Chinese
Definitions
Westerners Chinese Negotiation Failure
Q1: I assume that this means "fail to reach an agreement". There are dozens of possible causes. Here are a few common reasons: Failure to develop friendly, trusting relationships with the Chinese Failure to understand what Chinese negotiators really want from an agreement The Chinese team has not developed a coherent set of demands because they have conflicts within their own team There is no one in the foreign team to guide them on understanding the Chinese and / or they do not
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Job Offer Negotiation Advice
One of the most exciting experiences we can face in life is the prospect of starting a new job. We can literally feel the buzz as anxiety and self confidence ebb and flow through the interview process. Afterwards, we will occasionally catch ourselves staring into space, tapping our fingers, sneaking glances at the phone and eagerly checking our e-mail to see if we’ve had a response. Then, that magical moment comes – we get the job and they want to talk about the job offer. What
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Negotiation Course Defence
Power in Negotiation
Components of Successful Negotiations There are many occasions when a smaller company will want to form a negotiation partnership with a larger organization to further their business objectives. There are two hurdles that the smaller company might have to overcome to succeed in the negotiation process. The first problem is to get the larger organization’s attention, as they may express little or no interest in the partnership. The second problem revolves around the prickly
Case Studies
Salary Negotiation
Salary negotiation is a process where one party (usually the employee) negotiates the amount of their pay, income, earnings, commission, salary, wages, wage remuneration, annual review, or salary raise with another party (usually a representative of the employer, such as their manager).
Definitions
Positional Negotiation
It is always a difficult task for a negotiator to deal with people who approach negotiation as if it was a competition, with only one possible win-lose outcome. However, difficult does not mean impossible. As in any negotiation process, one of the most important tasks for you would be to discover and identify the other sides values and underlying needs. If you are aware of the reason behind the other sides behaviour, you are more likely to be able to effect changes in his behaviour
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Collective Bargaining Union Negotiation
Collective bargaining negotiation between labor unions and corporate employers is a specialized area in the field of general negotiations. However, the underlying legal and relationship aspects make these areas distinct. General business negotiation and lawsuit negotiations are not regulated by statutory provisions. In contrast, external laws mandate and govern a collective bargaining negotiation. Who Governs the Different Bargaining Situations? Many different
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Selling War
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Kuwait Invasion Negotiation Perspective
On a scorching summer day in August 1990, the citizens of Kuwait stared in puzzlement then fear at the encroaching dusty streams of what appeared to be a pending desert sandstorm. To their dismay and horror filled eyes, the quaking citizenry had become helpless witnesses to the advancing forces of once CIA asset Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army. Kuwaiti resistance was swept aside much like one casually brushes away a crumb from one’s lapel. Kuwait had been drilling laterally into
Case Studies
Risk-Seeking
A high level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in a negotiation.. A negotiator who decides to gamble rather than accept the ‘sure thing’, and who has the expectation that they will gain more in a negotiation is said to be ‘risk-seeking’.
Negotiation School of Hard Knocks
Cartoons
Lehman Leadership Negotiation Rivalry
Many people like to believe that the people in charge of the organizations that employ them are always working as a skillful trained negotiation team, united in working towards achieving unified goals and objectives. We like to believe that our management team has our company's best interests at heart. Well, sorry to stick a pin in this balloon, this case study illustrates a contrasting example. Situations such as the one shared in this case study occurs more often than many
Case Studies
Risk-Averse
A low level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in a negotiation. A negotiator who decides to accept the "sure thing" where a result is certain to be achieved is said to be "risk-averse", and is not willing to gamble further on a potential negotiated result.
Effective Negotiation Techniques
Your answer should be in line with the goals that management should aim for in developing any company-wide strategy or vision. Every negotiator should take responsibility in developing his or her own tool-kit of effective negotiation skills techniques. An effective negotiator: Aligns negotiation goals (strategy) with organisational goals (strategy), Prepares thoroughly and uses each negotiating phase to prepare techniques further, Uses negotiation meeting to discover
Questions & Answers
Giving Feedback After a Negotiation
Smart people ask us: “How do I give feedback to my colleagues after a negotiation?” Giving feedback to colleagues can be a delicate topic. As such, feedback is an area we invest plenty of time into during our negotiation skills training seminars. With this in mind, we thought you would like to know Steve Jones' top seven points on how to offer feedback. 1. Give the feedback immediately After the meeting has finished, give your feedback straight away. It's far easier for people
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Buying Real Estate
Chinese Water Selling Negotiation
Overview Acqua International (AQ) is a Europe-based multinational company that has interests in water and other environment-related businesses. In China, the company has joint ventures with medium-size and large municipalities to produce and sell potable water. To increase its investments in China, the AQ Group arranged, through its local subsidiary Pacific Acqua International (PAQ), to enter into a strategic alliance with Tak Foy and Co., a Chinese conglomerate with
Case Studies
Reservation Price
The reservation price is the least favourable point at which you will accept a negotiated agreement. For example, for a seller this means the least amount (minimum) or bottom line they would be prepared to accept. For a buyer, it would mean the most (maximum) or bottom line that they would be prepared to pay. It is also sometimes referred to as the "walk-away" point.
Definitions
Chinese Team Negotiation
Cross-cultural negotiation requires very detailed preparation on cultural differences. The history of business negotiation shows that many negotiations in China failed not because of lack of common ground but rather because of ignorance of cultural differences. Many western academics have commented that China sees herself as Chung-Kuo – the middle kingdom, the centre of the universe. This view states that the Chinese feel superior in the area of moral and spiritual
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Value Creation in Negotiations
Our efforts to create value in any negotiation will be highly limited if we don't form a collaborative negotiation approach with the other side. We don’t want to find ourselves making a shaky agreement with an angry and resentful partner. Instead, we want to create a relationship that is solid and durable, and benefits everyone. The ideal scenario is to leave the table shaking hands, smiling, and feeling pleased that we worked together to make the best possible deal for both
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Blackmail
Resolving Disputes Case Study: Business Mediation Example
Options to Resolve Business Disputes Companies that find themselves embroiled in a bitter feud over a contract dispute have three options to find a solution. They can either: Litigate their claim through the court system Go to arbitration Use a mediation process to resolve the dispute Many companies have invariably used one of these processes to address a dispute. There are significant differences to consider before deciding upon which method to employ. Arbitration and
Case Studies
Negotiation Reciprocation
The act of making a similar or like exchange of something in return for something given by one party to another party. In a negotiation, this could entail an exchange of information and/or an exchange of concessions between the negotiating parties.
Definitions
Win Win Negotiation Example
In every negotiation, no matter if you're buying, selling, solving conflicts or negotiating your salary, there is always something laying beneath your negotiation, something that motivates people to dedicate the time to meet and negotiate with you. In business and everyday life, each of us has something that drives us towards our desires, goals and aspirations. This drive makes us behave in a particular way and use different negotiation styles. What we want, why and how badly
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Detecting Lies in Negotiations
Negotiators often don’t say everything they're thinking. Sometimes they hold back or distort information to avoid being exploited by the other party. Disclosing your “walk away” or “must have” conditions can frequently be a risky strategy – particularly with aggressive competing negotiators on the other side. How many times have you been fooled by the other party claiming to have decision making authority when in reality that wasn’t the case? Or maybe they
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Negotiating with your Kids
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How NOT to Negotiate in China
Overview In 1998 Simon Turner worked for Bassano, a large Australian women's wear company with eighteen retail outlets across Australia. The following story recounts his experience in a business negotiation in Beijing with Happy Clothing. Bassano required a cheaper manufacturer of tailored women's wear and approached Happy Clothing, a tailored menswear manufacturer, to provide this service. Turner and his CEO Brian Thompson traveled to Beijing with a Chinese-Australian
Case Studies
Negotiation Rapport
Rapport happens across a number of levels. In business, most people associate rapport with matching and mirroring body language. Rapport brings you and the other party you're seeking to influnece into synch. When done well, rapport is undetectable, and works at the unconcious level. Rapport is more difficult to detect on the auditory level. So if you adjust your volume, cadence, inflection, pitch, resonance, length of sentences to that of the person or people you're seeking
Definitions
Negotiation Debt Management Advice for Businesses
Being in debt can feel like trudging through a mud drenched field after a heavy rain. Thinking about your debt can haunt you, whirling around in your brain during the early morning hours, while you restlessly toss and turn. You've done everything right but many outside factors are simply out of your control, these can include: An important client cancels your biggest contract Creditors demand faster repayments Your bank won't roll or renew your loan Your staff threaten to strike
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Attacking at War Negotiation
Unequal Indonesian Foreign Negotiations
Usage of power When two parties enter into an unequal negotiation, in terms of the negotiation power they bring to the table, the interests or goals of either party can have a dramatic influence on the positions they adopt in the negotiations. Sometimes this can have the effect of giving the weaker more negotiating power. Usually however, this power disparity is leveraged by the more powerful party