NEGOTIATION / FROM EXPERIENCE TO AN EXERCISE
More than a price.
From a NUS classroom to a conversation in Bugis, one question stays with me: what matters besides the price? Build an offer, then inspect it from another perspective.
01 / WHERE THE QUESTION BEGAN
Some differences need to be seen together.
In January’s El-Tek classroom exercise, our three-person seller team could negotiate both price and restrictions. Our team reflection noticed how the conversation became increasingly focused on price. A strong alternative supported our position; I also wanted to ask whether we had understood the other side’s priorities well enough.
Buying a bag in Bugis in March gave me a smaller, concrete example: our proposal became two bags at S$20 each. Quantity entered the offer. The scale and setting were different, but both experiences made me look more closely at what a complete proposal contains.
The workbench below makes that question tangible. Begin with A and B, then change one term. You can find packages with equal client scores but different designer scores, or raise the floors and inspect whether the overlap remains. The question to bring back to a real conversation is which priorities you have checked, and which you are assuming.
02 / PUT THE WHOLE PACKAGE ON THE TABLE
Change the terms. Inspect both perspectives.
Commission a poster for a community event. Negotiate the fee, delivery time and revision rounds together. All 45 combinations and preference scores below are fictional assumptions authored for this exercise.
S$160 · 14 days · 1 revision round
6 / 45 offers meet both floors.
03 / COMPARE, THEN CHOOSE A QUESTION
What changed besides the price?
A and B keep their terms. Changing the priorities or floors recalculates both under the new assumptions.
S$200 · 3 days · 0 revision rounds
Client / designer60 / 50At least one floor is unmet
S$160 · 14 days · 1 revision round
Client / designer60 / 60Both floors met
From A to B: what changed?
- Fee
- S$-40
- Delivery days
- +11 days
- Revision rounds
- +1 round
Under the current scoring rules, B is at least as good as A for both sides, and better for one. Next question: do these assumed priorities match the other person’s actual priorities?
Same client score. Different terms?
These offers have the same assumed client score as your current draft. The designer’s score may differ. Inspect the complete terms before discussing them.
Inspect all combinations and scores 45
Showing 45 offers.
| Fee | Days | Revisions | Points | Choose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S$120 | 3 | 0 | 80 / 30 | |
| S$120 | 3 | 1 | 90 / 20 | |
| S$120 | 3 | 2 | 100 / 10 | |
| S$120 | 7 | 0 | 70 / 45 | |
| S$120 | 7 | 1 | 80 / 35 | |
| S$120 | 7 | 2 | 90 / 25 | |
| S$120 | 14 | 0 | 60 / 60 | |
| S$120 | 14 | 1 | 70 / 50 | |
| S$120 | 14 | 2 | 80 / 40 | |
| S$160 | 3 | 0 | 70 / 40 | |
| S$160 | 3 | 1 | 80 / 30 | |
| S$160 | 3 | 2 | 90 / 20 | |
| S$160 | 7 | 0 | 60 / 55 | |
| S$160 | 7 | 1 | 70 / 45 | |
| S$160 | 7 | 2 | 80 / 35 | |
| S$160 | 14 | 0 | 50 / 70 | |
| S$160 | 14 | 1 | 60 / 60 | |
| S$160 | 14 | 2 | 70 / 50 | |
| S$200 | 3 | 0 | 60 / 50 | |
| S$200 | 3 | 1 | 70 / 40 | |
| S$200 | 3 | 2 | 80 / 30 | |
| S$200 | 7 | 0 | 50 / 65 | |
| S$200 | 7 | 1 | 60 / 55 | |
| S$200 | 7 | 2 | 70 / 45 | |
| S$200 | 14 | 0 | 40 / 80 | |
| S$200 | 14 | 1 | 50 / 70 | |
| S$200 | 14 | 2 | 60 / 60 | |
| S$240 | 3 | 0 | 50 / 60 | |
| S$240 | 3 | 1 | 60 / 50 | |
| S$240 | 3 | 2 | 70 / 40 | |
| S$240 | 7 | 0 | 40 / 75 | |
| S$240 | 7 | 1 | 50 / 65 | |
| S$240 | 7 | 2 | 60 / 55 | |
| S$240 | 14 | 0 | 30 / 90 | |
| S$240 | 14 | 1 | 40 / 80 | |
| S$240 | 14 | 2 | 50 / 70 | |
| S$280 | 3 | 0 | 40 / 70 | |
| S$280 | 3 | 1 | 50 / 60 | |
| S$280 | 3 | 2 | 60 / 50 | |
| S$280 | 7 | 0 | 30 / 85 | |
| S$280 | 7 | 1 | 40 / 75 | |
| S$280 | 7 | 2 | 50 / 65 | |
| S$280 | 14 | 0 | 20 / 100 | |
| S$280 | 14 | 1 | 30 / 90 | |
| S$280 | 14 | 2 | 40 / 80 |
04 / OPEN THE SCORING RULES
Where do the scores come from?
Each side’s score adds its points for fee, delivery time and revision rounds. Compare offers within one side’s preferences; adding the two sides’ scores does not measure real total value. Acceptance floors are separate exercise assumptions, rather than actual BATNAs.
Fee
- S$120
- 50 / 10
- S$160
- 40 / 20
- S$200
- 30 / 30
- S$240
- 20 / 40
- S$280
- 10 / 50
Delivery time
- 3 days
- 30 / 0
- 7 days
- 20 / 15
- 14 days
- 10 / 30
Revision rounds
- 0 rounds
- 0 / 20
- 1 rounds
- 10 / 10
- 2 rounds
- 20 / 0
An undominated offer has no alternative that scores at least as well for both sides and strictly better for one. Meeting both acceptance floors is a separate condition, shown by the shaded area.
Three fictional scenarios and up to three proposal rounds. Ask about the conditions, inspect the response and reveal the full model in review.
Try a complete conversation ↗05 / FROM THE MAP BACK TO THE CONVERSATION
What would you ask next?
Two concrete packages can give a conversation more to work with than a general request for a better deal. What changes if there is more time to deliver? What would need to adjust if more revisions are required? A complete package gives both people something specific to examine.
Multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs) involve preparing packages of comparable value to the proposer and learning which the other person prefers. The same-score suggestions here offer a simplified way to inspect that idea. In an actual conversation, the values behind the packages still need to be established.
The habit I want to keep is practical: list the full terms, describe the trade-offs, then revise my understanding when new information arrives. The classroom reflection, the street-level experience and this workbench offer three ways to continue that question.
AFTER READING / THE CONVERSATION
What would you add?
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