Lesson 22: The Critical Phase in Negotiation


Part 1: Review from last class…new material…..

Starting and outlining your position:

· I'd like to begin by saying…
· I'd like to outline our aims and objectives.
· There are two main areas that we'd like to concentrate on / discuss.

Agreeing:

· We agree.
· This is a fair suggestion.
· You have a good point.
· I can't see any problem with that.
· Provided / As long as you….. we will….

Disagreeing:

· I'm afraid that's not acceptable to us.
· I'm afraid we can't agree with you there.
· Can I just pick you up on a point you made earlier.
· I understand where you're coming from / your position, but…
· We're prepared to compromise, but…
· If you look at it from our point of view,…
· As we see it…
· That's not exactly as we see it.
· Is that your best offer?

Clarifying:

· Does anything I have suggested / proposed seem unclear to you?
· I'd like to clarify our position.
· What do you mean exactly when you say….
· Could you clarify your last point for me?

Asking Questions:

· Have you taken into account ___________________?
· Do you realize that ______________________?
· I was wondering if you’d thought of ___________________?
· Wouldn’t you agree that ____________________?
· Wouldn’t it be a good idea to ______________________?
· Why would you want to______________________?
· What would you do with_________________________?
· What is the reason for wanting to______________________?
· Why couldn't you_______________________?
· What would be wrong with doing this?
· Why would you object to_________________________?

Expressing Reservation:

· I have certain reservations about _____________________.
· I think we should give ourselves time to reflect on ___________.
· I’m rather worried about ____________________.
· Under no circumstances should we come to a hasty decision on this ________________________.
· I am afraid such a decision might lead to _____________.
· I feel that in view of ____________it would be sensible to _____________.
· I can’t help feeling that __________________.

Reassuring:

· There is no cause for concern as far as __________________is concerned.
· Let me assure you straightaway on that point.
· I can assure that___________________.
· We understand your concern about__________________ and we assure you that we will do everything in our power to __________.
· We share your concern about this, and you may rest assured that _________________.
· You need have no fear about________________________.

Adding Information:

· There are, if I may say so, certain points you should bear in mind __________________.
· There are other considerations. For example, ________________.
· If we look at it in another light ___________________.
· Seen from another angle, one could say ___________________.
· I wonder if you have considered _______________________.

Summarizing:

· Can we summarize what we've agreed so far?
· Let's look at the points we agree on.
· So the next step is…
· Can we summarize your position up to this point?
· Would you care to summarize your position up this point?



Part 2: 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 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 ...



Part 3: Bargaining and Compromising


Signalling the start of bargaining:

· We've 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 counter proposals:

· May we offer an alternative? We propose that ...
· We'd like to make an alternative proposal. We propose that ...
· From where we stand, a better solution might be ...


Making and qualifying concessions / Offering Compromise:

· We would be willing to ..., provided, of course, that ...
· We'd be prepared to .... However, there would be one condition.
· We are prepared to __________on condition that _____________.
· I think we could ____________provided that ____________________.
· We are ready to ___________on the understanding that ___________________.
· We are willing to ___________with the proviso that ___________.
· We are more ready to ____________as long as _______________.
· I believe we can ___________if _____________________.


Asking if it is acceptable:

· Is that acceptable?
· Would that be acceptable?
· Would that be satisfactory?
· Is that acceptable as a compromise solution?
· We hope this will be acceptable.


Adding a condition positively:

· We see no objection whatsoever, provided that___________.
· If we agreed, it would be conditional on __________________.
· Our agreement is conditional on ____________________.
· If we agreed, we hope you would reciprocate by __________________________.
· If you would be prepared to _________________then we could ______________________.


Adding a condition negatively:

· We’d be rather reluctant to ______________unless ____________.
· I don’t think we could ___________unless ________________.
· We wouldn’t be prepared to ______________unless _________________.
· We have certain reservation about __________________ and unless __________________________.
· Only if you __________________, would we be prepared to ________________________.


Accepting a Compromise / Accepting an Offer

· I think that would be perfectly acceptable.
· We see no objective to that.
· That seems to be a reasonable compromise.
· In a spirit of compromise, we would be willing to accept you offer.
· I think we could agree to your condition.
· I think we have an agreement.
· We are happy to accept this offer.


Rejecting a Compromise / Declining an Offer:

· We are not entirely convinced that this is a viable solution to the problem.
· Although we want to avoid a deadlock as much as you do, we find your offer unacceptable.
· You leave us with a little alternative but to __________________.
· In that case, we should very reluctantly have to __________________.
· You put us in a difficult situation.
· I'm afraid your offer doesn't go far enough.
· Unfortunately, we must decline your offer for the following reason(s) ___________________________.
· I'm 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?


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 obstacles:

· What exactly is the underlying problem here?
· Let's take a closer look at this problem.
· I would like to analyze this situation and get to the bottom of the problem.


Part 4: Closing

Checking:

· Let's just confirm the details, then.
· Let's 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?
· We'll have to consult with our colleagues back in the office. We'd 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.



Hand out role-play activity

Grammar:
Go over exercise 21.4 and 22.3


Future Tense: I will

1. When we decide at the time of speaking

Oh, I left the door open. I will go and close it.
I’m too tied to walk home. I think I will take a taxi.

2. Offer to do something

The bag looks heavy. I will help you with it.

3. Agreeing or refusing to do something

The car won’t start.
I will bring you the books after school.

4. Promising to do something

I won’t tell John what you said. I promise.
I promise I will call you as soon as I get home.

5. Asking someone to do something

Will you close the door?
Will you please be quiet?