You will produce a one-page preparation worksheet for a negotiation you actually face.
By now you've produced a lot of pieces: an interest map, a BATNA, a reservation point and target, a ZOPA estimate, a list of issues, research with sources, an opening and a concession plan. They're spread across a notebook, a phone and the back of an envelope. On the day, you won't have time to look through all of that.
This project pulls everything onto one page. It's the page you'll read on the MRT before the meeting, and the one you'll glance at during a break. Arjun's retainer negotiation is the worked example, with example figures throughout.
Produce a one-page preparation worksheet for a negotiation you actually face. It should fit on a single side of A4 or one screen, so you'll need to write in short phrases, not paragraphs. Then have one person who knows the other side or the market review it, and revise it.
Allow about 40 minutes for the first draft, plus the review.
Set up the page with these sections, in this order, as headings in a document or columns in a spreadsheet:
Interests: yours and theirs, with guesses marked Alternatives: your BATNA and your estimate of theirs Numbers: your reservation point, your target, your estimate of their reservation point, and the ZOPA between them Issues: each one scored for you and for them, with trading currency and no-trade items marked Criteria: your objective data points, each with its source and date Opening: your first line, your first offer and the reason for it Concessions: what you'll give, in what order, and what you'll ask for each time Tactics: what you expect them to try, and your planned response
The order matters. It runs from what both sides need, to what happens if there's no deal, to the numbers, and only then to what you'll say. That's the order in which each part depends on the one before it.
Most of this you've already done. Copy the interests from lesson 1.4, the BATNA and numbers from module 2, and the research, issues, opening and concessions from lessons 3.1 to 3.3. Shorten everything as you go.
Arjun's numbers section reads: "Target S$5,500. Reservation S$4,800 (below that, my other clients pay more per hour). Their limit: guess about S$5,800, based on what they paid for launch clips. ZOPA roughly S$4,800 to S$5,800." His criteria section has three lines, each with a source and a date. His opening is the two sentences he wrote in lesson 3.3.
The tactics section is new. Module 6 covers pressure tactics properly. For now, write down the one or two moves you'd expect from this person, from what you know of them. Arjun expects "our budget is fixed" and possibly a tight deadline to sign before the next launch. Beside each, he notes his response in a phrase: "fewer videos, not lower rate" and "happy to start on the launch work while the agreement is finalised".
Read the page from top to bottom and ask three questions. Is there any number without a reason or a source? Is there any guess I could check before the meeting with a question or a quick search? Does my opening offer sit above my target, and my target above my reservation point?
Arjun finds one gap. He has guessed that payment terms matter little to the developer, but he's never asked. He adds it to his list of questions for the start of the call.
Show the page to one person who knows either the other side or the market. For a salary, that might be a friend in the same industry or a former colleague who has hired for similar roles. For a lease, someone who's rented in the same area recently. For Arjun, it's another freelance editor who has worked with property developers.
Ask them to look for three things: numbers that seem off, interests you've missed, and anything in your opening that would irritate them if they were on the other side. Then revise the page.
Arjun's reviewer tells him that developers often prefer agreements that can be paused between launches. He adds a pause clause to his list of things he could offer, as trading currency for a better fee.
A finished worksheet fits on one page. Every section has something in it, even if a section says "unknown, ask at the start". Every number has a reason, and every data point has a source and a date. It has been reviewed by one person, and you've changed at least one thing as a result.
Most people find that writing it changes their plan. A target turns out to be unsupported, or an interest on the other side suddenly explains a demand that seemed unreasonable. That's the point of doing it before you speak. The activity asks you to build your own page now and get it in front of a reviewer.
Fill in the preparation worksheet template for your real negotiation and have one person review it for gaps.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).