Preparation is the advantage
Most negotiators prepare offers. Elite Negotiators™ prepare decisions, questions, and walk-away conditions — before they enter the room.
Ten steps, three depths
Scale the Blueprint™ to the deal in front of you — Core for every important negotiation, Plus for commercial complexity, Elite for strategic stakes.
A continuous system
Prepare, negotiate, capture the learning, and feed it back into the next negotiation. Capability compounds over time.
Three Depths
Scale preparation to the stakes
20–30 minutes (6 steps)
Every important negotiation. Skipping these steps significantly reduces negotiation performance and worsens the outcome.
35–50 minutes (9 steps, cumulative with Core)
Commercially important negotiations — significant value, multiple stakeholders, challenging implementation, or where the relationship matters.
40–60 minutes (all 10 steps, cumulative with Core and Plus)
Strategic negotiations — executive deals, acquisitions, major procurement, crisis negotiations, high-stakes agreements.
The Ten Steps
From victory to learning
Each step has a single purpose. Together they form a complete preparation system — not a checklist, a discipline.
Define Victory
core3–5 minMost negotiators begin by thinking about offers, concessions, and arguments. Elite Negotiators™ begin by defining success — by knowing exactly what a strong outcome must achieve for their own organisation before they analyse the other side.
Know Reality
core4–6 minNegotiations are rarely lost because people lack information. They are lost because people mistake assumptions for facts and opinions for reality.
Map the Players
plus4–6 minThe person sitting opposite you is not always the most important person you should negotiate with. The real negotiation often happens with people who are not necessarily in the room.
Understand Motivation
core4–6 minPeople rarely negotiate for what they say they want. They negotiate for what they need, fear, value, and are trying to avoid. All people look for pleasure and try to avoid the pain.
Design the Deal
core6–8 minThe Elite Negotiators™ don't negotiate one issue at a time. They negotiate complete solutions for the needs of both parties.
Build Your Power
plus5–7 minPower is rarely something fixed that you have. More often, it is something you create before the negotiation begins and you try to improve as the negotiation unfolds.
Ask Better Questions
plus4–6 minThe quality of your negotiation rarely depends on the quality of your answers. It depends on the quality of your questions.
Plan the Battle
elite6–8 minNo negotiation ever unfolds exactly as planned. Elite Negotiators™ don't prepare a script — they prepare strategies enabling them to make all the right decisions along the way.
Implement the Agreement
core3–5 minA signed agreement creates potential. Implementation creates value.
Capture the Learning
core3–4 minThe value of one negotiation should extend far beyond the agreement itself. Every negotiation represents a step ahead in growing your negotiation capabilities.
In the Room
The Negotiation Cockpit™
A one-page distillation of your preparation — the strategic objective, priorities, key stakeholder, issue guardrails, BATNA, first questions, and walk-away conditions. Everything that matters, visible at a glance, kept live as the negotiation moves.
Capture & Learn
Meeting Notes + Review
Structured meeting notes keep every negotiation auditable and actionable. A guided review turns each negotiation into a learning event — what surprised you, which assumptions proved wrong, which preparation paid off, and what to change permanently.
- Live notes tied to each negotiation session
- Issue-by-issue outcome scoring against your targets
- Biggest success, surprise, and mistake captured
- One lesson never to forget — one improvement for next time
The Right Way Checks
Ethical Boundary Stability
Every package is tested against your ethical boundaries before it is offered. The methodology never asks you to misrepresent, coerce, or deceive.
Reality Check, Continuously
Assumptions are classified, validated, and re-checked. You negotiate from verified facts, not from what you hope is true.
Relationships as Assets
The strongest outcome is one the other side can honour and defend. Short-term wins that damage trust are not wins.
A Continuous System
Every negotiation feeds the next. Capability compounds — and what was once a difficult deal becomes a routine one.