Negotiations that go badly rarely fail in the room. They fail in the week before, when a team walks in without having agreed among themselves what they want. Settle these seven points first.
1. Your objective
Write down what a good outcome looks like in specific terms: price, volume, length, payment terms. If your team cannot agree on it internally, the other side will find the gaps.
2. Your walk-away point
Decide the terms below which you are better off with no deal. Set this before the meeting, when nobody is under pressure to say yes.
3. Your alternative
Know what you will do if this deal does not happen. A real alternative is the strongest source of confidence you can bring.
4. Their position
Work out what the other side needs, what deadlines they face and who must approve the deal on their side. Their constraints shape what they can accept.
5. What you can trade
List the things that cost you little and matter to them, and the reverse. Never concede anything without asking for something in return.
6. Who speaks
Agree who leads, who takes notes and who has the authority to agree. Mixed messages from your own side are expensive.
7. What happens next
End every meeting with a written list of what was agreed, what is open and who does what by when. Send it the same day.