We believe that co-operative negotiations create better deals than competitive negotiations — but we need to be prepared for both.

We believe that “YES” is more powerful than “NO.”

We believe that information-sharing will help structure expectations and make negotiations progress more quickly.

We believe that you derive more power and influence by making proposals than you do by waiting for them.

Prepare

A structured approach to planning; covering objective setting, strategy and tactics, negotiation tasks, information flow, creating/claiming value

Argue

A process of information exchange which includes giving information to structure expectations as well as gaining information to understand needs, constraints, inhibitions, opportunities and priorities

Signal

The process of listening, observing and speaking to identify willingness to consider movement in negotiating positions through identifying clues to flexibility.

Propose

A specific offer on which settlement can be based: proposals move negotiations forward. There is a structure to both making and responding to proposals effectively.

Package

The process of rearranging the variables in a proposal to make it more acceptable to the other party.

Bargain

A central negotiating activity where you trade and make concessions in order to achieve the concessions you want in return.

Close

The point at which bargaining stops; this may be brought about for various reasons - and you seek to finalized the agreement.

Agree

To avoid misunderstanding, agreement is made with the other party as to what has been agreed and whose responsibility it is to ensure the agreement is enacted