How to Prepare a Concession Plan Before a Negotiation Call.
You are heading into a late-stage call where you know price, terms, or scope will come up and you want to be ready before the pressure hits.
Most reps decide what to give away live on the call, under pressure, with a buyer who has been preparing for this moment. That is how margin disappears. When you plan your concessions in advance - what you will offer first, what you will hold back, and where you will walk away - you stay in control of the conversation instead of reacting to it.
Where it goes wrong
You go into the call with a rough sense of your floor price but no plan for what to trade. The buyer asks for a discount, you give one. They ask again, you give another. By the end you have given away more than you intended and the buyer still feels like they won.
What you'll be able to do
You can build a simple concession plan before any negotiation call that tells you what to offer first, what to hold in reserve, and what you will not move on.
How to do it
Set your floor price before the call - the
Set your floor price before the call - the number below which the deal is not worth doing. Write it down so you are not calculating it under pressure.
List your tradeable items in order of cost to
List your tradeable items in order of cost to you. Cheap trades go first: onboarding support, payment timing, a packaging adjustment. Price reduction goes last.
For each trade, decide what you want back
For each trade, decide what you want back. Longer term, upfront payment, a reference, expanded scope, or a faster signature date are all fair asks.
Decide your walk-away condition in advance
Decide your walk-away condition in advance. If the buyer needs a price you cannot meet without a trade they will not make, know that before you are on the call.
Keep the list short - three to five items
Keep the list short - three to five items is enough. The goal is clarity, not a spreadsheet.
See the difference
Rep goes into the call knowing the list price and a vague sense that 'there might be some flexibility'. Buyer asks for 20% off. Rep says 'I'll see what I can do' and comes back with 15% and nothing in return.
Rep prepares: floor is $42k, preferred trades are two-year term or upfront annual payment, backup trade is a reference call, walk-away is anything under $40k with no term extension. On the call, buyer asks for 20% off. Rep says: 'I can take this back, but I need something to bring with me. If we can move to a two-year term with annual upfront billing, I have room to work. Is that a conversation worth having?'
You can build a simple concession plan before any negotiation call that tells you what to offer first, what to hold in reserve, and what you will not move on.
How you'll know it's working
You've got it when you finish a negotiation call and every concession you made was one you had already decided you were willing to make, with a condition attached.
Questions people ask
How do you prepare a concession plan before a negotiation call?
Most reps decide what to give away live on the call, under pressure, with a buyer who has been preparing for this moment. That is how margin disappears. You can build a simple concession plan before any negotiation call that tells you what to offer first, what to hold in reserve, and what you will not move on.
What is the most common mistake to avoid?
You go into the call with a rough sense of your floor price but no plan for what to trade. The buyer asks for a discount, you give one.
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