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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

NEGOTIATIONS

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1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Are there situations in your country when you can get a cheaper price on goods by discussing it?
Are you good at doing that? Why / why not?
2. Does your company give different prices to different customers? Why / why not?
3. How do you make sure you pay the lowest price for things you buy in your personal life?

2 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. resolve (v) a. strongly suggest that someone do something

2. confirm (v) b. give someone the things that they need or want

3. negotiate (v) c. agree on a conclusion to a situation

4. wrap up (phr. v) d. state that some information is correct

5. settle (v) e. discuss a situation to find an agreement

6. urge (v) f. end the period of time when an official agreement is in place

7. accommodate (v) g. find a good solution to a problem

8. expire (v) h. bring a meeting or process to a close

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Part B: Complete the following sentences with the noun form of the Part A verb in brackets.

1. I think we might have found a to the problem we were having with our computers.
(resolve)

2. Can you ask them for that they have received our order? (confirm)

3. We’re not going to lower the price for them. I’m not interested in a . (negotiate)

4. We’ve reached a with them and we’ll send them the first payment next week.
(settle)

5. I’m trying to resist the to complain about their sales people. They were so rude
to us! (urge)

6. He’s starting here next week, but he’s currently looking for closer to this office.
(accommodate)

7. I’ve got the present for him, but Janice has gone to buy some paper. (wrap up)

8. We must remember to renew the contract on their website next week before the
on October 7th. (expire)

Part C: Now complete the following sentences with the vocabulary from Part A.

1. I can that we’re interested in what you have to offer.

2. What I want to do is to the terms of the deal.

3. The exact number we need is something we can .

4. We can certainly all of your needs.

5. I can’t really the problem over price on this model as that is the cheapest I can
offer.

6. I would you to consider our helpline service which is a fantastic deal.

7. I can also offer you a 15% discount if you buy from us again when the guarantee .

8. Let’s this for now, but I will email you later to finalise the details.

Listen to the conversation to check your answers.

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3 Listening comprehension

Listen again and decide if the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

1. Liz and Stefan have never spoken before.

2. Stefan wants to buy a total of 50 laptops.

3. There are three new offices opening for Stefan’s company over the next two years.

4. Liz’s company can supply all of the laptops needed.

5. Liz offers Stefan a lower price per unit.

6. Stefan can afford the price that Liz suggests.

7. The service Liz offers will last longer than it usually does.

8. Stefan is able to make a decision about what to do immediately.

9. If Stefan orders from Liz in future, it will be cheaper.

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4 Skimming for gist

Match the titles to the paragraphs A – D. There are more titles than paragraphs.

Getting what you want

Rules for negotiations

A.

Before any negotiation, you must do your homework and make sure you understand all of the terms of the deal.
People often think negotiations are about money, but this is often just one aspect. For example, if you’ve been
offered a job and you’re invited to discuss the salary, you should also talk over other factors such as transport,
holiday, and training. You might focus on the salary and get them to give you £60,000 a year, when they were
offering £55,000. But you live 90 minutes away and now you have to spend money on transport or buy a car. It
could be that £57,000 plus a company car would have been a better deal. So consider what is acceptable to you
and list all of the options.

B.

Be sure to be friendly and smile. It’s much harder to disagree with someone who is pleasant and polite, so it’s
easier for you to be persuasive. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to be pushed into doing something that you
don’t want to do.

C.

Whatever they propose at the beginning, avoid saying yes to it straight away. In negotiations, few people offer
the most they are prepared to give right away. Try listening to what they are saying and think about the situation
from their point of view. Connect their offer to your situation and try to open up other possibilities. If they offer
you £55,000 for the job, say something like ‘I was hoping for £60,000 because I have a long commute and will
need to pay for transport.’ Now you have given options and provided other possibilities for a resolution. If the
salary is important to them, they may be able to make things easier for you to reach an understanding in other
ways, for example working from home, or use of company accommodation. Try to politely make sure that when
you give something, you get something back.

D.

Get to know the people you’re working with. You may find yourself negotiating with them again in future and this
will be much easier if you know more about them and what they value. The ideal negotiation will be when both
sides walk away with something they want and you both have a commitment that you’re happy with. You may be
able to use future deals as a way to bargain with them too. For example, agree to accommodate their demands
for a price in return for a discount the next time you buy from them. This means you both get something of value:
you pay less and they get a return customer.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian

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5 Finding vocabulary

Quickly read the article on page four and find vocabulary with the following definitions.

1. the rules of an official agreement

2. discuss a plan in detail to make a decision

3. of a level that most people are happy with

4. able to affect other people’s decisions

5. encourage someone to do something they may not really want to do

6. suggest an action

7. an unofficial agreement

8. a promise to do something

6 Reading comprehension

Complete the summary with one, two or three words from the article on page four.

1
Money is really only of a negotiation and to be successful, you need to think
2
of how many other are available, not just the financial ones. Always be
nice to the person you’re negotiating with as you’re much more likely to get what you want if
3
you’re . Whatever is offered at the beginning, avoid agreeing to it. Consider
4
the situation from the of the other person and listen to what it is that they
5
really want. Connect their offer to , so that they can find more than one
way to reach a deal. You should also be prepared to offer something yourself so that you can
6
in return. Work on creating a good relationship with them so that they will
7
want to do business with you in future. This can be used when you for lower
8
prices in future. You will both be happy when they get a repeat customer and .

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7 Talking point

Part A: Discussion. In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Have you been involved in a negotiation for work? What happened?

2. What do you think you would find difficult to do in a negotiation?
3. In what situations might you need to negotiate in your job?
4. Is there anything you would want to add to the rules for negotiation article?
5. What advice would you give to someone if they were negotiating in your country?

Part B: Role play. Your teacher will give you a card. Read it and prepare to negotiate with the other
students. Do not read each other’s cards.

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Transcripts

2. Focus on vocabulary

Stefan: Hi Liz, Great to see you. Thanks for coming.

Liz: Not a problem, I was in the area anyway. You want to talk about the laptops we were
discussing last week, yes?

Stefan: I do. I can confirm that we’re interested in what you have to offer. What I want to do is
to settle the terms of the deal.

Liz: That’s great news. Now as I understand it, you wanted to buy 50 laptops from us to begin
with, the ....uh ... the LX model, is that correct?

Stefan: Yes, although the exact number we need is something we can negotiate. We’ll need 50
as soon as possible, with another 30 in three months from now when our Berlin office
opens. However, we also have plans to open an office in Paris and Amsterdam within the
next 48 months.

Liz: I see. We can certainly accommodate all of your needs, but let’s start with what you need
now and then go from there. The LX model is usually $800 per unit, but we can let you
have it for $750.

Stefan: That sounds good, but my budget really only covers $700 per unit.

Liz: I can’t really resolve the problem over price on this model as that is the cheapest I can
offer. What I can do for you is provide a five-year guarantee on all units. Also, I would
urge you to consider our helpline service which is a fantastic deal. We provide a number
which your employees can call 24 hours a day to get help. We can access the laptop
remotely and try to fix the problem, or if we can’t do that, we can replace the laptop for
you free of charge. Now that usually costs $49.99 per unit for two years, but I can offer
you that service for free for five years. It’s a lot less expensive than running your own IT
department.

Stefan: That’s a really good offer, thank you. I may need to have a conversation with someone in
finance before I can agree to that, but let me ask you this: if we take the 80 units at $750,
will you be open to offering us a discount on future orders?

Liz: I think I could agree to a discount on orders of over 100 units in future. I can also offer
you a 15% discount if you buy from us again when the guarantee expires.

Stefan: That sounds great, Liz. Let’s wrap this up for now, but I will email you later to finalise
the details. I think 80 laptops at $750 each, plus the five-year guarantee and the hotline
service is going to get the green light.

Liz: Wonderful! Thanks a lot for your time today.

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Stefan: And you. Let me walk you out ...

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This introduces the idea of negotiation without using the term (this will be covered in the vocabulary section) by
getting students to consider getting cheaper prices and their experience of that.

2. Focus on vocabulary

Part A
5 mins.
This covers some of the key vocabulary used in the listening exercise. Ensure students can correctly pronounce
the target language. Ask students to complete the task unaided in the first instance, but allow them to use a
reference later if needed.
You may need to elicit or tell the students the following words in addition to those covered in the vocabulary
section.
guarantee (n) – an official promise that something will happen
green light (n) – official permission for something to continue

1. → g. 2. → d. 3. → e. 4. → h. 5. → c. 6. → a. 7. → b. 8. → f.

Part B
15 mins.
This exercise encourages students to expand their vocabulary by linking other parts of speech to the target
vocabulary. They are likely to need a dictionary to do this. Students are then asked to complete sentences from
the audio script with the target vocabulary to practise using it in context. They can then check their answers by
listening to the audio for the first time.

Students might need help with number 7.

1. resolution (n) 2. confirmation (n) 3. negotiation (n) 4. settlement (n)

5. urge (n) 6. accommodation (n) 7. wrapping (adj.) 8. expiration (n)

Part C

1. confirm 2. settle 3. negotiate 4. accommodate

5. resolve 6. urge 7. expires 8. wrap ≀ up

3. Listening comprehension

5 mins.
Ask students to answer the questions after the first listening, then listen again to check.

1. False. ‘You want to talk about the laptops we were discussing last week, yes?’

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2. False. ‘We’ll need 50 as soon as possible, with another 30 in three months from now when our Berlin office
opens.’
3. True. ‘... in three months from now when our Berlin office opens. However, we also have plans to open an
office in Paris and Amsterdam within the next 48 months.’
4. True. ‘We can certainly accommodate all of your needs...’
5. True. ‘The LX model is usually $800 per unit, but we can let you have it for $750.’
6. False. ‘my budget really only covers $700 per unit.’
7. True. ‘Now that usually costs $49.99 per unit for two years, but I can offer you that service for free for five
years.’
8. False. ‘I may need to have a conversation with someone in finance before I can agree to that...’
9. True. ‘I think I could agree to a discount on orders of over 100 units in future. I can also offer you a 15%
discount if you buy from us again when the guarantee expires.’

4. Skimming for gist

5 mins.
You may want to set a time limit to encourage skimming rather than reading in detail.

A. Do your homework
B. Be polite and flexible
C. Don’t take the first offer
D. Build a relationship

Sources:
www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20150707-six-ways-to-get-what-you-want
www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/jul/31/startups-negotiation-compromise-credibility

5. Finding vocabulary

5 mins.
This provides further support with vocabulary and can be done before or after the comprehension.

1. terms (n) 2. talk over (phr. v)

3. acceptable (adj.) 4. persuasive (adj.)
5. push (v) (someone into doing something) 6. propose (v)
7. understanding (n) 8. commitment (n)

6. Reading comprehension

10 mins.
Ask students to complete the summary with one, two or three consecutive words from the article, while making
sure the sentences are grammatically correct.

1. one aspect
2. options
3. pleasant and polite
4. point of view
5. other possibilities
6. get something back
7. bargain

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8. you pay less

7. Talking point

10 mins.
Ask the students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Circulate and help as needed.

Part B
20 mins+
Split the students into pairs. Give them the cards, allow them to read them and prepare before their conversation.
There are some possible resolutions to the negotiation, but encourage the students to be inventive and create
their own options. They can invent their own deals, the information on the cards is just a guide. You may want
students to act out their negotiation for the class if the students are happy to do so. You may want the students
to prepare their negotiation for homework and then act it out in class.

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