Advanced Negotiation and Deal Making Training Course

Participants can uncover counterpart priorities and test assumptions without disclosing unnecessary information.

• Opening agendas establish purpose, process, participants and decision timetable
• Use calibrated questions to surface priorities, standards and hidden constraints
• Active listening distinguishes positions, interests, emotions and untested inferences
• Label and summarise counterpart concerns without accepting their framing
• Test assumptions through diagnostic questions, silence and precise paraphrasing
• Record negotiation intelligence in an issue, owner and evidence log

Participants can develop package proposals that create value before allocating it.

• Interest-based bargaining expands options before distributing claimed value
• MESO packages present multiple equivalent offers while revealing preferences
• Create contingent agreements around volume, performance, timing and risk
• Package tradable issues using scored priorities and reciprocal conditionality
• Objective criteria anchor proposals to benchmarks, precedents and market data
• Calculate package value using weighted scoring and total-cost analysis

Participants can communicate proposals persuasively while maintaining commercial credibility.

• Frame proposals around counterpart priorities, losses, gains and implementation burden
• Anchor ambitiously with defensible rationale rather than unsupported demands
• Use contrast effects and reference points without misleading counterparts
• Structure persuasive messages using claim, evidence, implication and request
• Manage tone, pace, silence and turn-taking under competitive pressure
• Separate relationship signals from substantive disagreement during difficult exchanges

Participants can identify and respond to common pressure tactics without abandoning their strategy.

• Recognise hardball tactics including brinkmanship, nibbling, bluffing and false deadlines
• Respond to extreme anchors by questioning standards and resetting ranges
• Defuse take-it-or-leave-it demands through process moves and conditional alternatives
• Test apparent authority limits without provoking unnecessary status contests
• Handle threats by clarifying consequences, options and escalation paths
• Protect confidentiality while exchanging enough information to make trades

Participants can make planned concessions, break impasses and secure clear agreement terms.

• Plan concession sequences that signal reciprocity and preserve remaining value
• Trade, never give, concessions using explicit if-then language
• Set deadlines, pauses and caucuses to improve judgement under pressure
• Use bracket offers to narrow ranges without prematurely splitting differences
• Identify closing signals, unresolved contingencies and premature-agreement risks
• Confirm tentative agreements through issue-by-issue summaries and written recaps

Participants can manage emotion, power differences and relationship strain during demanding negotiations.

• Regulate emotional responses using tactical empathy, reframing and time-outs
• Name process problems without assigning motives or escalating blame
• Repair trust after mistakes through acknowledgement, remedy and verification
• Address cultural communication differences through explicit norms and clarification
• Manage power asymmetry by improving alternatives, coalitions and information
• Escalate disputes using agreed governance, mediation and senior sponsorship

Participants can align internal stakeholders and manage coalitions in multiparty deal processes.

• Design meeting architecture for coalitions, internal alignment and external bargaining
• Map coalition interests, veto players, informal influencers and sequencing
• Align internal stakeholders before external commitments create implementation risk
• Use pre-wiring conversations to test proposals and reduce surprises
• Manage procurement committees, boards and legal reviewers with decision logs
• Coordinate team roles for lead speaking, observation and note capture

Participants can convert negotiated intent into operationally workable deal terms and governance.

• Translate commercial terms into operational obligations, measures and ownership
• Define service levels, acceptance criteria, remedies and change-control mechanisms
• Allocate risk through warranties, indemnities, liability caps and insurance
• Draft governance clauses covering escalation, reviews, reporting and disputes
• Test proposed terms against implementation capacity and total deal value
• Produce a term-sheet checklist before legal drafting begins

Participants can apply ethical boundaries and build a focused plan for future negotiations.

• Apply ethical boundaries to disclosure, representation, pressure and commitments
• Identify conflicts of interest, improper inducements and information-handling risks
• Use principled refusal when requests breach policy, law or mandate
• Conduct post-negotiation reviews using outcome, process and relationship measures
• Build a personal negotiation development plan from observed performance gaps
• Schedule transfer actions for upcoming deals, stakeholders and preparation milestones