NEGOTIATION STANDARDS

In La Femme Corp we understand the importance of having procedures to work smart and with
credibility with our current business partners, and futures ones. Regarding this matter, la Femme Corp
has developed seven negotiation standard guidelines for our procurement team, making emphasis on
the elements needed to make successful negotiations that will benefit not only our partners but our
company too. The guidelines are mandatory to be followed, and they are as follows:

1. Preparation:  Without thorough preparation including research, knowing the objectives,

understanding the concessions, the negotiation is unlikely to reach the optimum outcome. Part
of an effective preparation process is to monitor a preparation checklist to avoid missing an
important point during the day where the negotiation process takes place. Some aspects or
questions to answer, are:

 What do I want from this negotiation? List short-term and long-term goals.
 Why is the other party negotiating with me? What do I have that they need?
 What is my best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or BATNA? That is, what option
would I turn to if I’m not satisfied with the deal we negotiate or if we reach an impasse?
 Is there a zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) between my reservation point and the other
side’s? If there is no room for bargaining, then there’s no reason to negotiate—but don’t
give up until you’re sure. You may be able to add more issues to the discussion.
 What is my relationship history with the other party? How might our past relationship affect
current talks?
 Are there cultural differences that we should prepare for?
 To what degree will we be negotiating electronically? Are we prepared for the pros and cons
of negotiating via email, teleconference, etc.?
 Who are my competitors for this deal? How do our relative advantages and disadvantages
compare?
 What objective benchmarks, criteria, and precedents will support my preferred position?
 Who should be on my negotiating team? Who should be our spokesperson? What specific
responsibilities should each team member have?
  Am I ready to engage in interest-based bargaining? Be prepared to try to create value by
trading on differences in resources, preferences, forecasts, risk tolerance, and deadlines.
 Is an agreement likely to create net value for society? How can we reduce potential harm to
outside parties?

2. Opening: This is where both parties explain what they want as a result of the negotiation.
3. Testing: This stage is where parties try and understand what is important to each other and
where concessions could be made. Effective communication is very important at this stage,
ensuring that good listening skills are put into play to gather as much information as possible as
well as reading body language from the other parties.
4. Proposing: each party puts forward their proposals of what they would like to achieve having
heard the opening stage and been involved in the testing.
5. Bargaining: each party offers to give up something in return for something back, for example:
tradeable. If one party has to give something up but receives nothing back in trade, this is
known as a concession.
6. Agreement: once bargaining has been completed it is expected that an agreement can be made.
An agreement has to have acceptance from both parties to be legally binding.
7. Closure: this stage includes the documentation of what has been agreed, whether that is a
contract or minutes from a meeting. The closure is an important stage – without the appropriate
documentation, the agreement is open to interpretation.

After achieving a good binding closure, it is important to follow up constantly and this is made correctly
with continuous communication between both parties.