Developing Effective Pitching and Negotiation Skills

This report discusses the importance of pitching and negotiation skills in starting a business. It outlines various steps involved in a negotiation process, such as preparation, discussion, and clarification of goals. A pitch is defined as presenting an idea or product to an investor, who then invests in the brand. The report also touches on the request for proposal process, which involves making a proposal to sell an idea, commodity, or asset related to the business. Additionally, it covers how to assess potential outcomes of a pitch and provides references from books and journals.

Pitching and Negotiation skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P 1 Determine what is negotiation, why it occurs, and who are its stakeholders during the
process. .......................................................................................................................................1
P 2 Evaluate the key steps and information required for negotiating and generating deals. .....2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
P 3 Explain RFP process and the relevant documentation required...........................................3
P 4 Explain the contractual process and how relevant documentation is managed and
monitored....................................................................................................................................3
P 5. Develop an appropriate pitch applying key principles that achieve a sustainable
competitive edge. .......................................................................................................................4
P 6. Assess the potential outcomes of a pitch. ...........................................................................5
P 7. Determined how organisation fulfil their obligations from a pitch, identifying potential
problems that can occur. ............................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Pitching is made by entrepreneurs or individuals who are starting a new business and do
not have funds to build up a business. Then pitch is made that includes the details of a new start-
up which is then provided to an investor. Apart from this, negotiation skills are considered
important in business. This is because good negotiation skills contribute significantly to business
success. The report is on Pouch company that however, gained offers from all five Dragons, the
investment didn't go through. This is a free browser extension which automatically finds &
shows discount codes for online retailer. Also, it will evaluate the context of a negotiation and
information required to prepare negotiation. Further, it will explain RFP process and
documentation required.
LO1
P 1 Determine what is negotiation, why it occurs, and who are its stakeholders during the
process.
Negotiation refers to a method by which people settle differences with other party to
agree upon similar decision. Further, it is a process through which compromise or agreement is
fulfilled while avoiding disputes and conflicts. Poor negotiation skills can affect the organisation
just as fast as loosing customers. If there is any disagreement, employees will make efforts to
attain the best possible outcome for their position. Therefore, negotiation can be defined as the
technique to resolve disputes and business negotiators i.e. the Pouch will be required a lot of
homework to achieve success.
It has been determined that, negotiation can be occur in any business situation, but
company negotiate in everyday situation outside of the place of work. However, it occurs when
there are the best possible outcomes are available from a situation in which two or more parties
have interest. For example, in Pouch negotiation process will occur while asking an investor to
invest in their company. In this way the relationship between both the parties is shaped through
the process of negotiation. Therefore, this states that for achieving success in business depends
on having good negotiation skill (Broadley, Champion and McHattie, 2016).
Every business, need to recognise and find major stakeholders and determine their
requirements and expectations of the project. Effective negotiation skills, and communication
between stakeholders ensure that the investment will be successful and that everyone is on the
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same point of agreement. There are basically five key stakeholders involved in the negotiation
process; project manager, their team, functional management, sponsors, and customers. It has
been further, determined that there are both types of stakeholders i.e. internal and external
classifications. Those who are directly affected by the project are called internal stakeholders like
employees, and external stakeholders are not present internally such as; vendors or suppliers.
Therefore, it is necessary for Pouch to know its stakeholders as the process starts by building
healthy relationship (Wray, Celio and Monti, 2018).
P 2 Evaluate the key steps and information required for negotiating and generating deals.
There is no easy way to achieve the desired outcome, as there is always a process behind
it. For example, Pouch company needs to follow these steps to obtain benefits of financial
support from the investors through the way of negotiation.
 Preparation :- this is the first stage of the process of negotiation which involves all the
facts about the situation are necessary to be known to learn the own position. Prior to the
negotiation, setting a limited time scale would be helpful for the organisation to prevent
the disagreement continuing.
 Discussion :- during this step of negotiation, individuals from both side keep forward
their interest or case as they understand in their own way. Skills required at this step are
listening carefully, clarifying and questioning.
 Clarifying goals :- for Pouch to achieve its objective, it is necessary to follow these steps
in an order of priority. Therefore, clarification of goals and objectives is necessary for the
company for negotiation process.
 Negotiation towards a win-win outcome :- at this point, both the parties think that they
have won the situation through the process of negotiation and both of them have a sense
of feel that their perception is taken into consideration (Bushnell, Drucker and
Hammond, 2015).
 Agreement :- this stage of negotiation process is achieved when understanding of both
side's perception & interests have been considered. To achieve this stage, it is essential
for them to be engaged in the process open minded in order to accept solution.
 Implementing course of action :- after agreement on a similar viewpoint, a course of
action needs to be applied to carry through the decision.
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LO2
P 3 Explain RFP process and the relevant documentation required.
A Request For Proposal refers to a bidding solicitation in which the organisation
introduces funding, available for a particular project or program. According to this, firms place
bids for the project completion. Moreover, it includes the process of bidding, contract terms, and
gives guidance on how the bid should be formatted and presented.
 Assemble the team :- the first step of the request for proposal is to establish the team
responsible for RFP process. The should involve major stakeholders, an individual who
will make the draft of RFP, and parties that will review the RFP.
 Develop a timeline :- after assembling a team, Pouch must bring everyone together to
create a timeline for the RFP process. The company can make use of Lucidchart to
document the timeline (Cenere, Gill and Lewis, 2015).
 Write the RFP: - with the development of timeline, the employees in a team will be
assigned to write the RFP and then perform any essential research and draft the RFP.
Therefore, the company must follow this structure to entirely demonstrate what is
anticipated from those who will be responding to the RFP.
 Distribute the RFP: - once the company has finished the RFP & reviewed it including all
major stakeholders, distribute it to potential respondents. Create an email providing a
wide overview to the potential vendors, and link to the project webpage and send them
including more information.
P 4 Explain the contractual process and how relevant documentation is managed and monitored.
 Stage one; Preparation: - contracts are considered as legally binding papers that should
not be taken lightly. It is also very crucial to be organised and prepared with the right
resources. Proper finding the needs, reasons, and defined goals that are required in a
contract to make any decisions much easier. Moreover, it makes sure that even if a
business connection is strong, each side is going to acquire exactly what is demonstrated
in the contract (Sherwood, 2017).
 Author the contract: - in this step the part consults the in-house counsel because it is
considered wise, especially if there are any uncertainties. Under this stage a template it
drafted by the legal team to detail all the information, clauses and terms in the contract.
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 Negotiate the contract: - it always necessary to follow negotiation in this contractual
process. Also, it should start with transparency and trust. Expecting and research other
side party’s needs prior to the discussion makes the process easy & creates a strong
lasting connection.
 Approval before finalising the contract :- after the process of negotiation and agreement
of both the parties, next stage is of approval. If the Pouch has specific procurement
provisions, they will required to be met before gaining approval for the contract.
 Execute the contract: - The signing the contract should be considered the simplest part of
this process. This means both parties agree, the discussion is exact, and the next step is
making it official in a simple way. However, many businesses make agreements across
the country or even the globe, and getting signatures isn’t as easy as meeting in person.
 Keep up with amendments: - contracts are generally static and revision are common part
of the process. Reviewing changes and the effects of each party can be confound. It is
considered vital to keep ahead of the alterations and ensure both sides are fully aware and
in approval on any revisions (Faff, Babakhani and Liu, 2017).
 Obligation, auditing and renewals: - doing audits of the contract regularly makes sure that
commitments are met and value is realized. Alertness should be made for deadlines and
reconstruction.
P 5. Develop an appropriate pitch applying key principles that achieve a sustainable competitive
edge.
 Understand the party for which pitch is being prepared: - first of all learn who the
investors are and what are their requirements and then accordingly tailor the pitch. Even
the pitch is for the same product or service, the opportunity is different every time.
 Learn their needs and motivations of customers: - to hit the investor’s mind to make the
pitch very effective, the company is required to understand that what encourages the
person they are pitching for.
 Know what challenges the experience: - Once Pouch Company learns customer’s needs
and motivations, they need to go a step further and see at the real challenges the audience
experiences on a regular basis (Price, 2015).
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 Gather tools which will make pitch effective: - this is next step that should be taken by
the organisation i.e. to collect the resources and tools they are going to need to actually
place this pitch together.
 Build the winning pitch: - If the company is planning to send their pitch through email, so
crafting the perfect subject line is imperative. The subject or opening line should be the
hook to attract the customer’s attention. Once the organisation persuade the buyer to
continue reading the pitch, the next step is to demonstrate how company can assist them.
In the written pitch, directly address the issues that buyer experiences. Then focus on how
the company’s product or service can help fix these problems. Furthermore, company has
a pitch that addresses the buyer’s issues, now express how that product or service offers a
solution (Dolmans, Shane and Romme, 2016).
 Short the pitch: - The length of your pitch is crucial. If it is too long then the buyer will
lose interest and fail to read it. Try to restrict with the word count to avoid information
overload.
 Prepare to deliver it:- if every stage goes well, the company will experience questions and
comments from investors and buyer’s to clearly understand the company’s product. As
the part of the preparation, the organisation needs to be ready for questions.
P 6. Assess the potential outcomes of a pitch.
There are many opinions on making a great pitch and demonstrating it to potential
investors, but there is a big gap between what individuals or entrepreneurs think to be important
and what investors value at the time of a pitch presentation. To see whether the investor is
satisfied with a pitch or not, it that if the party has been hit by the company's idea both
emotionally and at business levels then the pitch will gain its purpose.
 All problems in the conflict were settled :- this is one of the various ways to assess the
potential of a pitch. Entrepreneurs always perceive that if there were 6 to 7 issues and
from that if 4 to 5 have solved then they have attained the success. Therefore, it is crucial
to distinguish between settling problems mutually beneficial for all.
 All issues were solved mutually :- another way to asses the potential outcomes of pitch is
a way to think regarding success in negotiation is to investigate if all problems are settled
to the mutual benefits of all.
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 Underlying the core conflicts were solved :- it has been observed that, unless the core
conflict is negotiated, it will arise again. Frequently, the symptoms of dispute are solved
without underlying core conflict being resolved.
 The number of unresolved problems were decreased :- people also assess potential
outcomes of a pitch by looking at the range of unresolved issues. If these number of
problems resolved are more than unresolved issues then it is considered as success of the
pitch (Fenton and Turner, 2017).
 Investor and entrepreneur learn to interact better :- one more way to evaluate whether the
pitch will be a success or not is to see that either any learning has taken place or still the
negotiation is going on. In other words, if both sides have developed a sense of
communication then it would be helpful in resolving dispute.
P 7. Determined how organisation fulfil their obligations from a pitch, identifying potential
problems that can occur.
When it comes for a person to come and stand in front of new investors and presenting the
stuff, the company don’t get a second chance to present it in the best way. In other words, the
organisation needs to have an excellent pitch to create a good relationship with the potential
clients. It is vital to know that a pitch to an investor may not strictly draw start-up funds. For
example, Pouch may need an investment when it has an unexpected but very profitable order far
from its present ability. Such a pitch is easy to prepare because investors feel far more secure
with the purchase order in hand (Page and Mukherjee, 2014).
A well prepared pitch is simply a way to securing funds or finance for business’s expansion
or start-up. Finance providing institutions have been giving the mass of business funding for long
time. In most cases, it has also been observed that the success of a brand is calculated by the
effectiveness of the pitch. From various studies, number of brands fail not because of their in-
built weakness, but due to poor pitching. This proves that the significance of having a great
pitch to enhance company’s brand. To prevent the funds from banks & other financial
organisations, developing a powerful, practical and workable business plan is compulsory.
Presently, it has been observed that angel investors have become key source of business
financing, and this is the stage where a great pitch comes in. A great pitch is considered
important for selling company’s brand. It is essentially reflects your strategic plan for your
product. Due to this reason, a pitch should always be fresh with the present trends in the market.
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The ultimate purpose of a pitch is to impress the investors so that they can buy organisation’s
idea (Hughes and Byrd, 2015).
CONCLUSION
From the overall report it has been concluded that, pitching and negotiation skills are
very important for an individual to start a business. Also, it demonstrated various steps involved
in a negotiation process such as; preparation, discussion, clarification of goals and so on. A pitch
is something that defines completely the product or idea of an entrepreneur to an investor and
then the investor invests in the brand. Negotiation skills are abilities to discuss mutually about
various issues with two or more parties and come to a solution mutually. Apart from this, the
report also described about the request for proposal process, which is a proposal made to the
investor to sell an idea, commodity or asset related to the business. Moreover, it demonstrated
how assessment of potential outcomes of a pitch are acquired.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Broadley, C., Champion, K. and McHattie, L. S., 2016. From Participation to Collaboration:
Reflections on the co-creation of innovative business ideas. In DRS2016: Design Research
Society 50th Anniversary Conference (pp. 1739-1758). Design Research Society.
Bushnell, N., Drucker, P.F. and Hammond, J.S., 2015. Business Planning and Market Strategy
in a Nutshell.
Cenere, P., Gill, R. and Lewis, M., 2015. Communication Skills for Business Professionals 7.
Cambridge University Press.
Dolmans, S.A., Shane, S. and Romme, A.G.L., 2016. The evaluation of university inventions:
Judging a book by its cover?. Journal of Business Research. 69(11). pp.4998-5001.
Faff, R.W., Babakhani, N. and Liu, M., 2017. Motivating postgrad research students to pitch
their ideas: What have we learned from'pitching research'competitions at UQ?.
Fenton, A. and Turner, J., 2017. Case study: good practice in enterprise and entrepreneurship
education–University of Salford–Building bright ideas and innovating future business:
delivering meaningful enterprise skills training at the University of Salford. The Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).
Hughes, C. and Byrd, M.Y., 2015. Negotiation Skills and the HRD Professionals. In Managing
Human Resource Development Programs (pp. 131-140). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Page, D. and Mukherjee, A., 2014, February. Using negotiation exercises to promote critical
thinking skills. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning:
Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 33).
Price, R., 2015. Job Offer Negotiation Process and the Effects on Job Satisfaction Levels.
Sherwood, M., 2017. The Authority Guide to Pitching Your Business: How to make an impact
and be remembered–in under a minute! (Vol. 17). Sra Books.
Wray, T.B., Celio, M.A. and Monti, P.M., 2018. Causal Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on
Sexual Risk Intentions and Condom Negotiation Skills Among High-Risk Men Who Have
Sex with Men (MSM). AIDS and Behavior, pp.1-14.
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