Art of Negotiation

It's been 2 weeks now since I joined Brocade in bangalore. We were informed beforehand that for the first 3 weeks we would be undergoing training in soft skills. Each day, a new topic is chosen and deliberated upon. Since it was happening in a 5 star hotel, along with free lunch, we had no reasons to complaint. Today, as usual, a new day, a new topic.

The topic of the day today was "Negotiating Skills". As part of this, all of us had to take part in a role play where the 32 of us were divided into 2 groups. One group will be the employees of the company TechPartner (TP) whereas the other group will represent the company MegaHard (MH). Each group was given a sheet which contained details of only their own company, but it contained no details whatsoever about the company the other group represents. Each member of TP was mapped to a member of MH and both of them had to negotiate a successful deal favorable to both the companies so as to to replace the current contract. All of us were given 30 minutes to go through the sheet and prepare for the "negotiations".

I was in the group that represented TP. There was so much data in the sheet that by the time I could make out what the numbers meant I was already asked to go to the negotiating table.

The tough negotiator that I had to face on the other side of the table was none other than.............

DEBOJYOTI ulf DEBO ulf DADA!!! (Ok now everyone no need to laugh, he's a good guy).

Dada, with a menacing  look in his eyes, came and sat next to me. Those eyes had a fire that I had never seen before (I may have missed it because he used to sleep 24x7 in IIT). Dada never let his gaze off my eyes even for a second. I started sweating.

"How can I save my company from the tough negotiator that MH had sent", I thought. I had no answer.

I had to talk to myself to calm down.

"Ok dude, take a deep breath. Relaxxxxxxx. Just remember this is just our Debo boy. You can do it. You know your CEO has given you some flexibility. All you need to make sure is that this guy does not raise the prices, mentioned in the current contract, by too much an amount. A small amount is something we can live with. Also make sure that we need to limit the period of contract to 2 years though MH guys will want it for a minimum 3 years. You also need to ensure that the we must have a guarantee from MH that we will be delivered atleast 20 units each month, double of what is mentioned in the current contract. So just relax. Everything will be just fine".

I calmed down a bit. I wiped the sweat flowing down my face. I decided I will just go for it. I must have rehearsed my opening statement a 100 times. I wanted the opening to be perfect. But even before I had a chance to blurt out my well rehearsed statement, which was by the way "Good Morning", Dada exploded :-

"I can give you only 5% discount"


I was shocked for a couple of seconds

"You what?"


"I can give you only 5% discount", Dada repeated.

"You will?"

"Only 5%".

Wow....here I was trying to see how to make sure MH will not increase the price and this fool is offering me 5% discount!!!

But since this was a role play for negotiation skills, I thought I will play along.

"No I want 10% discount", I said, putting on a stern face.

"I won't go a step furthur from 5%", Debo stated, standing his ground.

"As if I care", I thought.  I started laughing in my mind.


"Ok fine so be it, as you wish. 5% it is", I replied, as if I am doing him some service.

Next in the agenda was number of units to purchase. I had to convince him that I need a guarantee that MH will provide me with 20 units per month, compared to the 10 mentioned in the current contract

"I want a guarantee that MH will give us 20 units each month", I informed Debo.

"Ok done", he replied.

"What? Done? So fast? So easily? No fight?".

"You sure?", I asked just to make sure I heard him right.

"Yeah", he replied


Man, I am good at this, I complimented myself. Debo is really a dumbo.

The last point was about the period of the contract. I was hoping to be third time lucky.

"I can commit only for a period of 2 years", I told Debo.

"No that can't be. It has to be for 3 years"

"No 2 years", I protested

"No 3"

"2"

"3"

"TWOOOOOOOO"

"THREE"

"Abee 2"

"3"

"Saale tera kya jaata hei. Maan jaana be. Class ke baath lime soda pila doonga", I pleaded.
[Idiot, what is there for you to lose. If u agree to 2 years, I will buy you a lime soda]

"Ok done. Agreed".

Hahaha, this guy really is a dumbo. He agreed to all my terms without me conceding anything. Man I am good.

We went back to the class. We had to report our negotiation terms to Eve, the instructor from US, who was coordinating the class. After we told her the terms of the negotiation, she turned to me and asked

"So do you think this deal was beneficial for your company TP"

"Definitely Eve. My CEO wanted me to ensure the price rise per unit was minimum, but through my hard negotiating tactics, I actually got a discount of 5%. Man I am good. I had to put my negotiating skills to a even harder test with respect to ensuring that TP could secure a guarantee of 20 units per month, but in the end, the better guy prevailed and the deal will guarantee TP 20 units per month. Man I rock. And last, but definitely not the least, I kicked his ass by limiting the period of contract to 2 years. Man I am the best".

Eve was impressed.

"Goooooooooooood. Well Doneeeee. Now Dibaaajoti, how was the deal for you. Was it beneficial for your company MH".

I was laughing in my mind. What will this dumbo say

"Well Eve, these are my points

 - My CEO had asked me to ensure that I do not give more than 15% discount. I ensured I gave only 5%.

 - My boss had instructed me to ensure atleast 15 guaranteed units per month, I am giving him 20. 

 - I ensured that there was nothing in the contract wherein MH could have to pay any fines in case of late deliveries.

 - Though my boss ideally would have liked the deal to be for a period of 3 years, he was ready for 2 years, provided the discount in the price was not more than 10%. Since we had agreed on the 5% discount, it automatically ensured that I could have the period of deal for 2 years.

Taking all this into account, I must say I couldn't have got a better deal"

From somewhere above a 1000 ton hammer fell on me.