Welcoming:
On behalf of I would like to welcome you to
Its my pleasure to welcome you to
Welcome to
Suggesting a procedure:
I would like to begin by suggesting the following procedure (agenda).
To start with, I think we should establish the overall procedure.
As our first order of business, can we agree on a procedure?
Checking for agreement:
Does that fit in with your objectives?
Is that compatible with what you would like to see?
Does that seem acceptable to you?
Is there anything youd like to change?
Is this okay with you?
Giving the discussion leadership to a colleague:
I will now hand you over to Mr. Adams, who is
I will now hand the floor to Mr. Adams, who is
Now let me hand the meeting over to my colleague, Ms. Jones, who
General outline of a proposal:
May I ask, please, what your proposal is in connection with our company?
What in general terms are you looking for here?
Dealing with digressions:
May we leave that till later and first look at
Can we deal with first?
2 Clarifying Proposals
Reviewing the previous session:
At our last meeting we discussed
Perhaps you will recall that during our last discussion we decided that
Moving on to the next point:
Could we now move on to the next subject, which is
Lets go on to the next subject, shall we?
Putting forward future possibilities:
We foresee
We envisage
We see
Seeking clarification:
Could you clarify one point for me?
Im not sure I fully understand your point.
What exactly do you mean by ?
Could you be more specific?
Defining a proposal more specifically:
It involves
It covers
It includes
It leaves out
Reassuring:
Let me reassure you that
I can promise you that
Have no doubts that we will
Going Beyond Positions to the Underlying Interests Asking why:
Why would you want to ?
What would you do with ?
What is the reason for wanting to ?
Asking why not:
Why couldnt you ?
What would be wrong with doing this?
Why would you object to ?
3 Exploring the Zone of Bargaining and Options
Summarizing positions up to this point:
Can we summarize your position up to this point?
Would you care to summarize your position up to this point?
Confirming a negotiating position:
Is that an accurate summary of where you stand?
Would you say that is a fair representation of your position?
Probing / Looking for options:
Just for the sake of argument, what if
Can I ask a hypothetical question? Suppose that
4 Bargaining
Signaling the start of bargaining:
Weve looked at what you have proposed, and we are ready to respond.
After serious consideration, we are prepared to respond to your proposal.
Responding to a proposal:
Regarding your proposal, our position
is
Our basic position is
As far as your proposal is concerned, we think that
Making and qualifying concessions:
We would be willing to , provided, of course, that
Wed be prepared to . . However, there would be one condition.
Making counter proposals:
May we offer an alternative? We propose that
Wed like to make an alternative proposal. We propose that
From where we stand, a better solution might be
5 Entering the Critical Phase
Identifying obstacles:
The main obstacle to progress at the moment seems to be
The main thing that bothers us is
One big problem we have is
Analyzing an obstacle:
What exactly is the underlying problem here?
Lets take a closer look at this problem.
I would like to analyze this situation and get to the bottom of the problem.
Asking for concessions:
In return for this, would you be willing
to ?
We feel there has to be a trade off here.
Declining an offer:
Im afraid your offer doesnt go far enough.
Unfortunately, we must decline your offer for the following reason(s).
Im sorry, but we must respectfully decline your offer.
Asking for further information:
Would you like to elaborate on that?
Could you go into more detail on that?
6 Closing
Checking:
Lets just confirm the details, then.
Lets make sure we agree on these figures
(dates / etc.).
Can we check these points one last time?
Delaying:
We would have to study this. Can we get back to you on this later?
Well have to consult with our colleagues back in the office.
Wed like to get back to you on it.
Accepting:
We are happy to accept this agreement.
This agreement is acceptable to us.
I believe we have an agreement.
Exercise 1
Choose the most appropriate heading for each group from the list below.
§ asking for clarification
§ rejecting
§ interrupting
§ bargaining
§ making a suggestion
§ stating your position
§ agreeing
§ asking for a reaction
1
We just cant agree to is out of questionNo, I dont really think so.Id rather not
5 ...
Ive got to stop you
2 .
Hows that then?It depends what you mean when you say What do you have in mind?Could you run through that again?
6
What we are looking for We think Wed like to Theres no way We wouldnt want to I guarantee I was hoping for
3 .
Well , if you We might be able to make an exception, if you Were prepared to , providing If you , I could I was going to but what if I were to say ?
7
How does that sound ?How do you feel about ?What do you say ?
4
Why not?Yes, of course.I agree to Thats a deal.
8 .
Lets agree , shall we?How about ?We could Do you want me to ?Id like to suggest
Exercise 2
Work with your partner. Decide in which part of the negotiation these statements are said? Try to give alternatives to each sentence.
1. I'm sure that we will have a useful and productive meeting...
2. I'd like to begin...
3. May I outline our principle aims and objectives today...
4. There are three specific areas that we would like to discuss.
5. Together we want to develop a good relationship...
6. I'd like to finish there and give you the opportunity to reply to this...
7. We want to clarify our position.
8. We agree...
9. Can we run through what we've agreed?
10. So, the next step is...
11. We need to draw up a formal contract.
12. Let's think about the last issue.
13. As long as you... we agree to...
14. Could we tie this agreement..?
15. That's not acceptable unless...
16. I think we should look at the points that we agree on...
17. We hope that you can see our point.
18. I think that you should look at the whole package not so much at individual
areas of difficulty.
19. It's been a very useful and productive meeting.
20. It would be better if we looked for an individual arbitrator.
Exercise 3
Work with your partner. Insert the missing parts, then act out the dialogue.
a) five laptopsb) his own budgetc) 6 months' timed) no worriese) in mind
f) your listed pricesg) the latest modelsh) a hard bargaini) potential customersj) the full price
k) a demonstration modell) at a lossm) a reasonable trade-in dealn) two special customers
Negotiating
Ø Im afraid ..1 .. are above what our budget allows.
Ø Look, we'd like to be able to show an OCR in actual use in an office to one or ..2 ... . If you agree to do that I'll consider reducing it by 5%.
Ø You mean use it as ..3 ..?
Ø That's right.
Ø Mmmm I personally wouldn't mind, but the general manager would object to outsiders coming in.
Ø Yes, I could understand that, but they'd be from large organizations, ..4 ..of your airline. It would do your own marketing no harm.
Ø Perhaps I could persuade him, but you'd have to do better than 5 %.
Ø Well, we could make it 7,5 % .
Ø The trouble is, the general manager isn't very interested in marketing. He's only concerned about ..5 ... If you make it 10%, I might be able to persuade him.
Ø Ahh, Im afraid that's really more than I could allow.
Ø That's a pity ... what discount will you give me on ..6 ..?
Ø We dont give you any discount on those. They are the latest models.
Ø I'm surprised to hear that. At the rate technology is advancing, these models will be out of date in ..7 ... . You mean you expect people to pay the listed price for them?
Ø Of course, they are ..8 .., but since you are purchasing five of them, we'll give you a 5 % discount.
Ø Yes, but will you guarantee they'll be the latest models in 6 months time?
Ø I'm afraid you'll have to wait 6 months for those.
Ø I don't want to wait 6 months ... nor do I want to pay ..9 .. now for something that will soon be superseded. What decent discount will you give me?
Ø What do you have ..10 ..?
Ø Twenty per cent would be reasonable.
Ø Oh, I couldn't possibly give you that. I'd be selling them ..11 .. .
Ø You'll have a bigger loss if you don't sell them soon.
Ø I've ..12 .. about that ... but look, I'm prepared to compromise. If you settle for a 7,5 % discount on the OCR, I'll agree to 10 % on the laptop.
Ø Ten per cent is not much on the laptop, but Id be happy to accept 10% on the OCR.
Ø Humm, you drive ..13 ..... . OK if we can show it in operation to one or two clients, I'll give you 10 % on the OCR.
Ø Mmm, that's fine with me.
Ø So, can I take it then we've agreed on 10% for both the OCR and the laptop?
Ø Ah, I didn't agree to 10 % on the laptop.
Ø But you said
Ø No! No! I said 10% wasn't much on the laptop. However, I'm prepared to accept it ... if you give me ..14 .. on our old ones.
