PwC Workshop: ‘Introduction to Negotiation Skills’

1. Introduction to
negotiation skills
Marilena Shakalli Maroudia
Senior Manager & Tutor of PwC’s Academy, BSc, BFP, FCA
29 October 2019

2. Introduction to negotiation skills
Agenda
• The negotiating process
• 3Ps of negotiations: Prepare, Probe, Propose
• Negotiation tactics
• Your attitude to negotiation

3. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Negotiation is not a contest!

4. PwCPwC
There are many misconceptions around negotiations:
• It’s all about getting your own way
• It’s all about obtaining the cheapest deal
• It’s all about beating the other side
Many people see negotiations as a contest where there are winners and losers.
This can be counter-productive as it prevents everyone from achieving the best
possible deal because they end up opposed to each other.
Introduction to negotiation skills

5. PwCPwC
“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate”
– John F. Kennedy
Introduction to negotiation skills

6. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
The negotiating process
Probing
Discussing
Bargaining ProposingAgreement
Preparing

7. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
3Ps of Negotiations:
P repare
P robe
P ropose

8. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Prepare

9. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail!

10. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Preliminary
Clarify your objectives
Common ground
Assessing the opposition
Information needed
Consequences of non agreement

11. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Our position
Ideal, realistic and fall back positions
Best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA)
Information to obtain (got, need, nice)
Concessions – cost to us; value to them
Climate (place, time)

12. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Rehearsal
Opening statement
Responses to likely questions
List assumptions – how to test them
Behavioural style

13. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Emergency Plan
Even time is negotiable
Build 2-way empathy
Tomorrow is another day

14. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Probe

15. PwCPwC
Probing consists of 2 elements:
• Asking questions to understand at a deeper level
• Active listening
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations

16. Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Types of questions
Type Used when … Examples
Open questions
/statements
you want to open up a
conversation
Tell me more about ….
What happened next?
How did you respond?
Probing questions you want to find our
more
What were you thinking when ….?
Why do you think the other party
made this offer?
Closed questions you want to clarify
something
Did you agree?
Did you change the way you
behaved?

17. PwCPwC
Introduction to negotiation skills
Conducting negotiations
Propose

18. Introduction to negotiation skills
Bargaining continuum
• We open with our entry point. Where we are prepared to move to is our exit point.
• The distance between them is our negotiable range.
• The distance between our entry point and the other party’s is the bargaining
continuum.
• If our exit points overlap, we could settle anywhere in the overlap. This is the
settlement area, also known as the Zone of Possible
Agreement (ZOPA).
• If our exit points do not meet or overlap, we are
unlikely to settle.

19. Introduction to negotiation skills
Negotiation tactics
Never give
concessions –
always trade in
Deadlines are
always negotiable
Stress the
advantages of
your offer
Don’t push too
hard
Make use of
silence
If you are selling, start high
then trade down, if you are
buying start low then trade up
Be realistic in
your expectations
When you’ve got an
agreement leave – do not
give time for second
thoughts!

20. Introduction to negotiation skills
Negotiation tactics
Don’t accept a
first offer
Leave the other side
feeling they’ve got as
good a deal as you
Proposals are
always conditional
Don’t change the
price, change the
package
Agreement is always reached
through trading
Focus on the facts,
not personalities
There must be a right of
veto for true negotiating.
You can always walk away
and come back to itDo not exaggerate

21. Introduction to negotiation skills
Tactics to move things forward
Fragmenting Break the problems that prevent agreement
into smaller, more manageable issues
What if…? Try to suggest alternative options /
solutions
By passing
Temporarily put aside an apparently
intractable issue – return to it when it seem
more manageable
Concession and
trade
Never concede something without getting
something in return

22. Introduction to negotiation skills
Principles of closing a negotiation
To close effectively a negotiation you need to:
• Be open to closure from the very beginning of your negotiation
• Make it clear this is your final offer
• Present your offer in an upbeat confident manner
• Leave the other side some space to review your final offer

23. Introduction to negotiation skills
Principles of closing a negotiation
If they say ‘NO’ or haggle – move out
If they say ‘YES’ – put it in a written form which is:
• Brief
• Factual
• Concise
• Accurate

24. Introduction to negotiation skills
Your attitude to negotiation
Effective negotiation is 10% technique and 90% attitude!

25. Introduction to negotiation skills
Your attitude to negotiation
• Make sure your attitude is positive and your purpose is clear
• Believe that others have entered the negotiating process in good faith and by
behaving with integrity you set the standards for the negotiation that you wish
to maintain
• In order to achieve your aims you need to keep in mind what you want.
Specifically, during a negotiation you should be:
– Convinced of your own case: this gives you confidence in your dealings
– Clear about your goal
– Able to ‘walk away’

26. Introduction to negotiation skills

27. pwc.com
Thank you!
© 2019 PwC. All rights reserved. Not for further distribution without the permission of PwC. “PwC” refers to the network of member firms of
PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL), or, as the context requires, individual member firms of the PwC network. Each member
firm is a separate legal entity and does not act as agent of PwCIL or any other member firm. PwCIL does not provide any services to clients.
PwCIL is not responsible or liable for the acts or omissions of any of its member firms nor can it control the exercise of their professional judgment
or bind them in any way. No member firm is responsible or liable for the acts or omissions of any other member firm nor can it control the exercise
of another member firm’s professional judgment or bind another member firm or PwCIL in any way.