Negotiation Exercises

The negotiation exercises are a central feature of our courses. There are no lectures, PowerPoint presentations or the like. Key learning points emerge from what happens in the exercises and from participants’ own experience, questions and comments.

Our negotiation exercises include the following:

A one on one fee negotiation between a service provider and a potential new client, with time pressure, a competing incumbent supplier and the possibility of significant future business.

A multi-issue negotiation under competitive pressure with opportunities for the seller to leverage competitive advantage and create extra value for both parties. One on one.

A “negoti-auction” where a short-listed bidder for a major international supply contract has been invited to the table, is under price pressure, but has the opportunity to improve the “shape” of the deal in several ways. The bidder faces the classic danger in a negoti-auction: negotiating against yourself! Conducted in teams.

A final meeting, again in teams, to settle the last remaining issue. Failure to exchange information effectively may result in a sub-optimal solution – or even the collapse of what appeared to be a “done deal.”

Purchase and sale of a business where the buyer and seller have different perceptions of a particular risk. Debating who is right, instead of finding a creative solution, will make a deal almost impossible. Teams, or solo negotiators, or solo against a team.

Apart from full scale negotiation exercises like those above, we also give course participants a number of “mini-practices” where they can rehearse particular critical incidents, such as

making an effective Initial Statement
putting a firm, packaged Opening Position
calling an Adjournment without looking weak
making a Final Offer – and making it stick.