Negotiation skills training, two-day in-company course in negotiating skills and process

Atherton Training Consultants Ltd

Negotiation Skills Training - 2-day on-site course

NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING - 2-days

On-site courses for up to 12 people

Courses for up to 12 people at your premises. Companies and organisations only. No public courses.

Email direct to Tony Atherton or phone 07976-390960

 

A two-day intensive course for up to 12 people covering the process and skills of professional negotiating and delivered on-site at your premises. Lots of learning and fun, and lots of practice.

COURSE AIM - Negotiation Skills - Two-day Training Course

The aim of this two-day course is deliver identifiable benefits for your organisation by helping delegates to improve their ability to negotiate professionally. For 4 to 12 delegates at your premises. The course is described in considerable detail below.

It covers the overall process that underpins most negotiations as well as the skills and some of the tactics that many professional negotiators use. It has benefited those new to professional negotiating and those who have many years experience of either sales and purchasing, or both.


IS THERE A TRACK RECORD?

There is. Tony presented his first course on Negotiation Skills on 23 February 1993 for a group of 12 delegates at NTL in Winchester. Since then he has run the course for many organisations mainly in the private sector including Scott-Wilson Kirkpatrick, Right Management, Standard Life, Reed, NDS, Bunzl. DESQ, EDF Energy, the Thames Valley Police Federation, STC Defence and others.

Although Tony now only presents this course on his own behalf he has, in the past, presented it on behalf of Reed Training and Right Management.


COURSE CONTENT - Negotiation Skills - Two days

  • The importance of understanding the process of negotiation
  • What business negotiations are and what they are not
  • Should you negotiate? Alternatives to negotiating and your best alternative
  • Power in business negotiations; sources of power, deadlock
  • Separating people from the problem
  • The negotiation process, a structured approach to negotiating
  • Kennedy et al - Eight steps of negotiating
  • Preparation - how to prepare well for a negotiation
  • Deciding what you want and setting your priorities
  • Predicting / researching their position and wants
  • Negotiating in a team or alone
  • Thinking about strategy
  • Deciding what might be conceded and what should not be conceded when negotiating
  • Understanding each other; exchanging information - how much and when?
  • Finding common positions, exploring options
  • Win-Win or Win-Lose negotiations
  • The importance of listening - for what they say, hint at and don't say
  • Seeking to understand "their position"
  • Making proposals, when and how to make them, and how to respond to their proposals
  • Handling counter-proposals
  • Negotiation tactics, the salami tactic and other tactics, and how to deal with them
  • Bargaining in negotiations - and how not to give it all away
  • Closing - getting the deal and preventing "deal creep"
  • Agreeing what you have agreed
  • Five extensive practice sessions - in a safe environment - with extensive feedback and analysis.
  • Planning how to take this learning forward in your organisation.
  • This is the best course I have ever been on.
We write in appreciation of your training for our "Negotiation Training" held at Newmarket. Tony delivered a very professional course, comprehensively and carefully covering the detail in a way which was both easy to follow and enjoyable. All our staff benefited greatly from his considerable experience, finding the course stimulating and enjoyable.

OUTLINE PLAN OF A TYPICAL COURSE - Negotiation Skills - 2-days.

In just two days the course helps you to develop your practical skills at using the negotiating process that underpins virtually all negotiations.

DAY 1: Arrive and Welcome

INTRODUCTION TO NEGOTIATING. Talk and discussion

  • What negotiating is and is not.
  • Alternatives to negotiating. Should you negotiate at all? Knowing your best alternative to negotiating, BATNA.
  • Power in negotiations. Sources of power. People or problems.
  • Deadlock - problem or opportunity?
  • Styles in negotiations: win-win, win-lose, etc.
  • Negotiating - the range within which you and they can bargain.
  • Timing in negotiations.
  • A structured approach. Kennedy et al: the eight step process.

COFFEE

THE PREPARATION STAGE. Talk and discussion

  • Defining and prioritising your objectives.
  • Must get, Intend to get and Wish lists; ABC priorities.
  • Identifying potential concessions.
  • The gentle art of trading your lists.
  • Gaining understanding, exchanging information.
  • Shared and conflicting interests and options.
  • Basic strategies and tactics.
  • Negotiating alone or in a team. Team roles. Value of team negotiations.
  • Applying this in your organisation.
  • Preparation for course negotiations 1 and 2

PREPARATION FOR PRACTICE NEGOTIATIONS 1 & 2. Four teams.

LUNCH

DISCUSSION AND PROPOSAL STAGES. Talk and discussion

  • Vital importance of the discussion stage.
  • Seeking, guarding and exchanging information. What to tell and what not to tell.
  • The importance of listening.
  • Building your understanding - and theirs.
  • Exploring issues, testing assumptions and setting expectations.
  • The dangers of weak arguments.
  • Recognising, giving and rewarding 'signals' or hints.
  • Calling and using adjournments.
  • How to construct a good proposal.
  • Making and receiving proposals.
  • Counter-proposals.
  • Applying in your organisation.

PRACTICE NEGOTIATIONS 1 AND 2

  • Final preparations for negotiations 1 and 2.
  • Negotiation 1.

TEA

PRACTICE NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUED

  • Negotiation 2.
  • Feedback, analysis and learning points.

BARGAINING. Talk and discussion

  • Rearranging a proposal to make it more acceptable.
  • The art of bargaining.
  • The importance of conditional offers.
  • Making and receiving multiple claims.
  • Putting a price on demands.
  • Applying in your organisation.

CLOSE OF DAY 1. Points you want to ponder.


DAY 2

CLOSING THE DEAL

  • How to close a negotiation. Closing opportunities.
  • Agreeing what was agreed.
  • 'Dirty Tricks' including 'deal creep' and how to counter them.
  • Applying in your organisation.

PREPARATION FOR NEGOTIATIONS 3 AND 4

  • Preparation for negotiations 3 and 4.

COFFEE

PRACTICE NEGOTIATIONS 3 AND 4

  • Negotiation 3.
  • Negotiation 4.
  • Feedback, analysis and learning points.
  • Introduction and preparation for negotiation 5.

LUNCH

PRACTICE NEGOTIATION 5

  • Final preparation for negotiation 5.
  • Negotiation 5.

TEA

  • Feedback, analysis and discussion on negotiation 5.

CLOSING DISCUSSION

  • What have you learned from this course?
  • Finalise Personal/Group action planning - applying this to your own negotiations and taking this forward


TRAINING STYLE - Negotiation Skills - Two-days

The training style uses a mixture of talks, discussions, individual work, group work and three practice sessions for everyone, with critique, in a mix that is as appropriate as possible to the delegates.

The actual course may differ slightly from the fine details above as the training is adjusted to match as accurately as possible the needs of the delegates. Delegates are asked to help one another to achieve their action plans. Full course notes are provided which also serve as reference books for later. The normal maximum number of delegates is 12.

Whilst the course describes the process of professional negotiating and the skills it uses, most importantly, it then embeds that understanding into practical skills by providing extensive practice and critique. A little less that half of the course time is actually spent negotiating and analysing what happened - and why - and learning from the experience.

Negotiation skills are key business skills so this is not just for buyers and sellers but for anyone with responsibility: managers, HR, union leaders, engineers, accountants and so on. Almost everyone negotiates as part of their professional life but few have developed their negotiating skills beyond a basic, almost instinctive, level. Even experienced buyers and sellers have commented about how much they have learned from this course. The course can be used either as an introduction or as a refresher for those with some experience.

Organisational benefits include: improved deals and relationships with clients and suppliers, a better bottom line, improved communication and mutually beneficial arrangements between departments, and a whole bundle of competencies improved..

THE TRAINER - Negotiation Skills - Two-days

Tony Atherton has been presenting Negotiation Skills courses since 1993. As a training consultant and published writer, Tony draws on a career in both the public and private sectors including employment in the Royal Navy, GEC-Marconi, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the University of Hong Kong. For five years he was the Training Manager at NTL. Since 1997 he has been an independent trainer and writer. As a published writer he has four books and around 90 articles to his name.

He has trained thousands of delegates from blue-chip organisations and runs this two-day course on site at clients' premises usually for up to 12 delegates. It has been run nearly 50 times for a variety of private sector clients.

He has also inspected government-funded training on behalf of the Training Standards Council and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.

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'I gather that the feedback on your [negotiation skills] seminars was excellent and so, yes, I would like to fix some dates for next year.'

Clients

Client organisations for all subjects over the years include:

Clients on behalf of the Institute of Management, Reed Training, Right-Coutts and Fielden-Cegos include:

CONTACT US:

E-mail direct to Tony Atherton

Phone 07976-390960

Covers: United Kingdom

Negotiation Skills Training 2-day course: Last updated 23 August 2008