Business English: Negotiation Language

Today's post is all about the language of negotiation. We'll go over the English expressions and grammar for agreeing/disagreeing, making a proposal/counter-proposal, and presenting options.

 
Let's look at an example of a business negotiation between a bakery owner (BO) and a fruit wholesaler (FW). 

BO: What price would you be able to give me if I bought 50 kilos of apples a week?

FW: Hmm, let me see...If you buy 50 kilos a week, you can have the apples at $1.50 per kilo.

BO: $1.50? That would be very difficult: my bakery is very small. How about this? If you can do .65cents per kilo? I'll order 70 kilos of apples per week.

FW: .65cents per kilo is far too low, I'm sorry. If you ordered 70 kilos a week, the best price you'd get is $1.30 per kilo.

BO: Would you be able to go lower if I ordered more apples? If  you can do .85cents per kilo,  I'll order 80 kilos a week.

FW:  That's doable, but, if you'd like .85cents per kilo, I'd need a larger order . If you agree to order 100 kilos a week, I'll give .85cent per kilo. Is that acceptable?

BO: So, that's 100 kilos a week at .85 cents per kilo, right?

FW: That's right. Do we have a deal?

BO: We have a deal.
 

Now, we'll go over the grammar and language used in the negotiation.


Usually, in a business negotiation, you don't give the price you want right away. It's best to ask a probing question.

BO: What price would you be able to give me if I bought 50 kilos of apples a week?

Probing questions will help you find out the other person's limit. Remember, the person you're negotiating with won't give away their ideal price either.

Notice the bakery own used "if" and "would" in the question. The grammar: the second conditional. We use this for talking about imaginary or situations (future or present) that are possible but may not happen.


In making a proposal, we can use the first conditional: "if" with "will" (or "won't") and "can" or "can't". We use this to talk about future situations that have a good chance of happening.

FW: Hmm, let me see...If you buy 50 kilos a week, you can have the apples at $1.50 per kilo.




If you have to reject a proposal, be clear but polite.

BO: $1.50? That would be very difficult: my bakery is very small

Don't say "no" too strongly or be critical. Other expressions you could use: I don't think we can afford that,  I'm not sure we can afford, etc. Use "soft" language.


If you say "no", make a counter-proposal. 

How about this? If you can do .65cents per kilo? I'll order 70 kilos of apples per week.

The idea of a counter-proposal is to keep the negotiation going. You and the other person have a common goal to get the best deal possible.  

 Final Advice

The bakery owner started at a very low price and the fruit wholesaler started at a very high price. There's a reason for this: there's "room to move" on price. 

Do not start with your target price. Begin with a ridiculous number; somewhere in the middle is "the deal".

Key Expressions

If...would...

Would (you) be able to...if...

If....(I) will....

If...(you) can...I'll....

  


For more on the grammar part of this post, check out the videos from EngVid.