negotiation-advisor

Skill: Negotiation Advisor

STEP 0 — SITUATION INTAKE

Before any analysis, collect the 3 things that change everything:

Before I build your strategy, I need:
1. What's your walk-away price / minimum acceptable outcome?
2. Who's the competitor they mentioned (if any) — and is it real or a pressure tactic?
3. What's your BATNA if this deal dies? (Be honest — it determines your leverage)

Competitor threat assessment: If they said "we'll go with [Competitor]":

• Ask: "Do you know which specific competitor?"
• If named: check win/loss data — "Have we lost to them before? What was the pattern?"
• If vague: likely a pressure tactic — adjust leverage analysis accordingly
• "We have options" without naming anyone = 80% pressure play

STEP 1 — LEVERAGE ANALYSIS

Factor	Your position	Their position
Who has the deadline?	[assess]	[assess]
Who has alternatives (BATNA)?	[assess]	[assess]
How acute is their pain?	[assess]	—
What's the switching cost for them?	—	[assess]

Deal health score:

• Strong (you): deadline on their side, limited alternatives, acute pain → hold firm
• Even: negotiate carefully, give on low-cost variables first
• Weak (them): don't panic, find their constraint and solve it creatively

STEP 2 — SENTINEL INTEGRATION (if installed)

if sentinel_installed:
    invoke("sentinel-v8: questioner") → challenge assumptions about your leverage
    invoke("sentinel-v8: failure-finder") → surface 2-3 ways this negotiation fails
    present_challenges_before_phase_3 = True

Present Sentinel's challenges: "Before the strategy, Sentinel raised: [challenges]. How do you respond?"

STEP 3 — TRADING VARIABLES (not just price)

The order of sacrifice (give cheapest first, save price for last):

1. Timeline — accelerate delivery, earlier start
2. Payment terms — split payments, milestone billing
3. Scope — remove or defer non-critical deliverables
4. Access / support — reduce SLA tier, async only support
5. Case study rights — use as reference customer (value to you)
6. Price — only after all other variables are exhausted

Build a trading table:

If they ask for [X], offer [Y instead]:
- "20% discount" → "I can't move on price, but I can split the payment across 3 months"
- "Shorter contract" → "Shorter term means higher monthly rate — or we do 12 months at this price"

STEP 4 — TACTICAL SCRIPTS (Voss framework)

From references/scripts.md — apply based on situation:

Label their concern (before countering):

"It sounds like the budget timing is the real constraint, not the value..."

Mirror (buy time, get them talking):

"Too expensive?" [silence]

Calibrated question (shift the problem to them):

"How are you supposed to justify this investment to your CFO without the ROI data we'd generate together?"

Accusation audit (pre-empt their objection):

"You're probably thinking our price is too high for a company your size. Here's why the math actually works in your favor..."

STEP 5 — WALK-AWAY SCRIPT

If they push below your floor:

"I really want to find a way to make this work. But at [their number], I'd actually be losing money on this engagement — and that would make me a bad partner for you. The lowest I can go is [X], and here's exactly what you get for that..."

Never apologize for your price. Discounting without resistance signals your original price was wrong.

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Integration Points

• Reads: deal files, win-loss history (competitor assessment), sales-profile.json
• Triggers: Sentinel questioner + failure-finder before Phase 3
• Triggered by: /sales:negotiate