Pitching and Negotiation Skills: Strategies for Business Growth

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of negotiation and pitching skills within a business context. It begins by defining negotiation, its purpose, and key stakeholders, then evaluates the essential steps and information needed for successful deals. The report delves into the RFP process, outlining required documentation and consequences of breaches, and critically evaluates competitive tendering and contract processes, offering recommendations for minimizing risk. Furthermore, it explores the development of effective pitches, examining ways to maximize success and assessing potential outcomes. Finally, the report addresses how organizations fulfill post-pitch obligations, identifying potential issues and recommending strategies for effective management, including risk mitigation. The document concludes by summarizing key findings and providing references for further study.

Pitching and Negotiation Skills
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
L01...................................................................................................................................................5
P1 Determine what is a negotiation, why it occurs and who the key stakeholders are during a
negotiation process......................................................................................................................5
P2 Evaluate the key steps and information required for negotiating and generating deals.........6
M1 Present a concise rationale for the negotiation process, including detailed steps that
organisations go through during a negotiation process and the information required in
preparation...................................................................................................................................7
D1 Critically evaluate the steps of the negotiation process and present valid solutions for
dealing with issues that can arise.................................................................................................8
LO2..................................................................................................................................................9
P3 Explain the RFP process and the relevant types of documentation required.........................9
P4 Explain the contractual process and how relevant documentation is managed and monitored
...................................................................................................................................................10
M2 Apply the RFP process within an organisational context, outlining the key documentation
required and consequences of breaching the terms of agreement.............................................11
D2 Critically evaluate the competitive tendering and contract process and make
recommendations for completing a successful tender with minimal risk..................................12
LO3................................................................................................................................................13
P5 Develop an appropriate pitch applying key principles that achieve a sustainable competitive
edge............................................................................................................................................13
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M3: Examine the pitch process in an organisational context, evaluating ways to maximise the
chances of a successful pitch.....................................................................................................14
D3 Develop a dynamic and creative pitch that is both concise and persuasive to achieve a
sustainable competitive edge.....................................................................................................15
LO4................................................................................................................................................16
P6 Assess the potential outcomes of a pitch..............................................................................16
P7 Determine how organisations fulfil their obligation from a pitch, identifying potential
issues that can occur..................................................................................................................17
M4 Recommend ways in which an organisation can fulfil their post-pitch obligations,
highlighting any potential issues...............................................................................................18
D4 Critically evaluate the pitch and post-pitch outcomes to determine potential issues and risk
management...............................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................20
References......................................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
The assignment will deliberate an understanding of the concepts of negotiation and pitching.
Both the concepts are an integral element of the business and its environment. The assignment
will enable to learn about the concepts and their application in the real business. The assignment
will enrich the knowledge about the various aspects of negations, its process, key stakeholders,
pitching and its application in the business.
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L01
P1 Determine what is a negotiation, why it occurs and who the key stakeholders are during
a negotiation process.
Negotiation can be termed as settlement or an attempt towards the settlement between two or
parties in order to achieve a satisfactory outcome. Negotiation is carried out to settle an issue that
occurs between two or more parties. The negotiation involves settlement in favour of one or all
the parties involved. Negotiation is undertaken to resolve the conflict between the parties and
arrive at an outcome. Both the parties involved lose some and gain some interests in the outcome
achieved. The process of negotiation can be successfully and it is dependent on the degree of
trust and compromise made by each party involved. Negotiation comes into action due to various
reasons and factors, these are discussed as below:
 Beneficial Factor- Negotiation is a beneficial factor to both the parties involved. It is a
process through which the conflict resolution takes place. The parties involved in
negotiation are benefited in the process of negotiation due to the advantage of comprising
made by each party. The parties achieve some parts of their interests with a little
compromise.
 Win-win situation- Negotiation is not about eliminating one party out of the conflict.
The process involves the benefit of all the parties involved and creates a win-win
situation for everyone involved.
 Dispute and conflict resolution- Negotiation is a conflict resolution technique. Any
conflict can be resolved with the application of negotiation (Ting‐Toomey, 2015). It
enables to come at a meeting point for the parties involved. It is not a complete disregard
of the interests of any one party and thus proves to be an effective technique of conflict
and dispute resolution.
The key stakeholders in the process of negotiation are the parties involved in the conflict or
dispute. The key stakeholders may also be the representatives of the parties involved in the
process of negation.
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P2 Evaluate the key steps and information required for negotiating and generating deals.
The process of negotiation is a well-structured and systematic process. The parties involved in
negotiation are most likely to achieve successful results. The process includes preparing and
planning as the first step. This determines the information and details that are required in the
process of negotiation. The next step is to define the ground rules which entail the determination
of the location, time limits, off topic limits, the offering price, bottom line etc. The next step is to
provide with clarification by both the parties in order to justify their interests and demands and
the offers bided by them. The next step is to provide with bargains to the opposition party in
order to achieve the maximum of interests and offer price (Pruitt, 2013). The problem-solving
procedure is carried out in order to arrive at an effective outcome for both the parties involved.
The last step is to close the process of negotiation by preparing the documents and listing the
agreements and legally implementing the outcome son the parties involved.
The information that is required in order to generate the deals for the negotiation is as follows:
 The history and background of the parties involved
 The documents regarding the conflict or dispute
 The offer prices of both the parties
 The bottom line of the offer
 The negotiation contract
 The details of previous contracts and agreements etc.
Thus it can be stated that negotiation is an effective technique to resolve the dispute between two
or more parties. It provides with ample opportunities to the parties involved in order to satisfy
their interests and profits.
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M1 Present a concise rationale for the negotiation process, including detailed steps that
organisations go through during a negotiation process and the information required in
preparation.
The steps and information required for negotiating are as follows:
 Preparation and Planning- The first step involves preparing and planning the
negotiation. It involves both the parties to organise and accumulate the required
information and details of the dispute and the settlement that is to be achieved in the
process of negotiation.
 Definition of grounds rules- Defining the ground rules requires establishing the rules
and regulations that will be followed in the process of negotiation. It will require
planning of the negotiation location, time constraints, issues that will be off limit,
agreement to be produced, guidelines to be followed, history and backgrounds of the
parties involved etc.
 Clarification and Justification- Both the parties involved will discuss their price
offering and interests desired. The parties will provide with a detailed explanation of the
desired interests and offer price (Rubin and Brown, 2013). The offer price and the bottom
line offered by both the parties will be assessed. Father justification will be placed in
order to achieve the desired offer.
 Bargaining and Problem Solving- Bargaining is the technique to negotiate the terms
and conditions of a contract. The parties will bargain with each other to achieve their sets
of interests and demands. The problem solving will take place in order to come at an
outcome which satisfies the interests and offers of both the parties.
 Closure and Implementation- The last step in the procedure of negotiation is to close
the negotiation and implement it on the parties involved. The negotiators will develop an
outcome which is desired by both the parties and close the process of negotiation. Lastly,
the outcome will be implemented on both the parties legally.
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D1 Critically evaluate the steps of the negotiation process and present valid solutions for
dealing with issues that can arise.
Positive aspect
 Fair judgment
 Provides with ample opportunities for settlement
 Maintenance of privacy
 Informal resolution technique
 Quick resolution
Negative aspect
 Time-consuming
 Involves a third party
 Ineffective with implementation (Goldberg , et. al., 2014)
 Disinterested parties
 Non-cooperation of the parties
Valid solutions for dealing with issues
 Proper involvement of the parties
 Implementing the outcomes legally
 Proper discussions and meeting
 Mutual agreement
 Strategic application of the process
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LO2
P3 Explain the RFP process and the relevant types of documentation required.
According to Sampsell (2012), the RFP process includes three phases. The process and
documentation required are described as below:
Stage 1: Request for Qualification
 Project Plan
 Schedule draft
 Q&A conference
 Selection and notification of developers
Stage 2: Requests for Proposal
 Drafting and reviewing of RPF
 Issuing RPF
 Reference check of developer
 Presentation of developer
 Selection of preferred developer
Stage 3: Formal Negotiation
 Singing letter of intent
 Decision making and approval
 Lease negotiations and execution of documents
The above is the process of a request for proposal. The process requires identifying the developer
and selection of the developer in order to contract and executing a formal negotiation for the
lease and execution of the project.
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P4 Explain the contractual process and how relevant documentation is managed and
monitored
The contractual process is a procedure through which the bank will enter into a contract with the
coffee shop. The procedure for entering into a contract is as follows:
 Selection of contract- In this step, the selection of contract is to be made. The selection
includes the adoption of agreement contract in which the offer and acceptance are made.
 Collection of information- In this step, the required information for entering into the
contract is gathered and collected. It includes the project plan, budget, action plans,
statement of work, payment schedule etc.
 Selection of negotiator- The selection of negotiator must be a legal process. The
negotiator selected must be legally authorised to enter into a contract (Huber, et. al.,
2013). It includes the execution of background check, contractor agreements,
procurement of services, lease agreements etc.
 Contract review process- At this stage, the contract produced is reviewed in terms of the
authenticity and applicability. It includes the activities of reviewing the terms and
conditions, the reviewing the agreements, reviewing the costs and charge sheet etc.
 The signing of the contract- The last stage is to sign the contract between the parties and
legally binding the contract on the parties involved.
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M2 Apply the RFP process within an organisational context, outlining the key
documentation required and consequences of breaching the terms of agreement
The key documentation required in the process of RFP is as follows:
 Invitation and description- This includes the description of the company and the
contract to the developers. This document is an invitation to the developer to come in the
contract.
 General terms and conditions- The documents entails the general terms and conditions
of the contract. This document aids the developer to produce his offer costs and charges.
 Pricing and templates- This document entails the template in which the pricing of the
contract is submitted in a particular template or format (Paech, et. al., 2012).
 Pre-qualification and questionnaire- The details of qualifications required to able to
enter into the contract and the questionnaire that justifies the selection is detailed in the
pre-qualification and questionnaire document.
 Sections criteria and weighs- This document educates the developer about the selection
criteria and the weighs deemed in each selection.
Consequences of breaching the contract as listed as below:
 Payment of compensatory damages
 Payment of punitive damages
 Specific performance
 Cancellation
 Restitution
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D2 Critically evaluate the competitive tendering and contract process and make
recommendations for completing a successful tender with minimal risk.
Positive aspect
 Makes a competitive market for the business
 Understanding of the alternatives available in the market
 Working on own terms and conditions
 Audit trails
 Value for money
Negative aspect
 Barrier to communication
 Increased costing
 Application of cheaper and poor quality of material, equipment and labour
 Time consuming (Hackett, 2016)
 Restricted research and development
Recommendation
 Provide with ample opportunities and resources to execute the research and development
procedures.
 Establishing direct communication with the buyer and the developer in order to ascertain
demands.
 Limiting the time period and motivating to complete the process in the predetermined
period.
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LO3
P5 Develop an appropriate pitch applying key principles that achieve a sustainable
competitive edge.
To develop a sustainable competitive pitch the following principles must be adopted:
 Developing the pitch with a visual presentation provides better understanding and
interpretation of the offer and the prices.
 The development of strong content supported by facts and figures will establish a positive
impact on the bank.
 The focus must be made on the needs and demands of the audience. The presentation
must be designed according to the understanding and language interpretation of the
audience.
 Interacting with the bank will enable to develop a better understanding of the bid
(Steinbacher, et. al., 2012) Establishing the communication and interacting with the
contractor in the form of question and answer will enable in an effective pitching.
 The content must be easily understandable to the listener. The content must be presented
in a structured manner and should provide with necessary details and information.
 Lastly, it must be focused that the bank is buying the developer and his presentation no
this ideas and products. The application of confident and correct body language is
recommended.
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M3: Examine the pitch process in an organisational context, evaluating ways to maximise
the chances of a successful pitch.
The process of a successful pitch is as flows:
 Request for proposal
 Selection of developer
 Blue chipping the developer
 Briefing the developer
 Development of the pitch
 Selection of the pitch
 Polishing and practising the pitch
 Presentation and selection of the pitch
The ways for constructing a successful pitch is as follows:
 Providing the pitch in a concrete language. Wishful thinking and language must be
avoided rather a concrete language and establishments must be proposed (Lewis, 2015).
 Disturbing the status quo and instilling passionate pitch will lead to success.
Communicating the advantage of the developer and persuading towards the selection will
form a successful pitch.
 Inculcating sustainability in the pitch will enhance the chances of an effective pitch.
Providing with futuristic data and problem solving techniques constructs a successful
pitch.
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D3 Develop a dynamic and creative pitch that is both concise and persuasive to achieve a
sustainable competitive edge.
Alpha Bank London Ltd.
Rotation
Our Product is made from original and ethnic Ghana coffee
beans. The coffee is made with rich milk powder and extremely
light milk cream to enrich the experience of the consumers. The
bank will be extremely benefited to build up the image and
reputation, as Cuisine Coffee is a home brand of London.
From the nation, for the nation.
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LO4
P6 Assess the potential outcomes of a pitch.
The potential outcome of the pitch between the panel and the coffee shop can be of the following
nature.
 Either the Alpha Bank London Ltd. signs the contract with due diligence with a no-shop
agreement. In this case, the Cuisine Coffee will enter into the contract and will have to
sign an agreement that states the developer will not entertain any other investor.
 The bank signs due diligence without a no-shop agreement, in this case, the developer
will enter into a contract and will be allowed to interact with other investors to pitch in.
 Another possible outcome can result in the panel will contact the coffee shop when
certain development and milestones are achieved by the company.
 The other outcome can turn into a decline from the panel regarding the agreements and
contracts offered by the coffee (Hobbin, 2012). The panel will try to negotiate with the
coffee shop and if it results in a failure the panel may decline the contract.
 The Cuisine Coffee can ask for referrals and recommendations from the panel to develop
contingency planning and evolve to achieve the milestones.
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P7 Determine how organisations fulfil their obligation from a pitch, identifying potential
issues that can occur.
The organisations fulfil their obligations by the implementation of the contract. In the given
scenario Cuisine Coffee will implement the contract and its terms and conditions into the system
of the organisation. The coffee shop will be required to execute the no shop agreement if signed.
The developer will have to fulfil the paperwork and present with a concrete base that will be
adopted in the contract. Further, the Cuisine Coffee is going to monitor the performance of the
contract (Soorjoo, 2012). The developer is obliged to review the contract and the changes or
alternations in the terms and conditions of the contract. The changes may occur due to the
changes in the budgets and due to the dynamic nature of the business environment.
The potential issues can be identified as the unhealthy relationship between the Bank and the
Cuisine Coffee. The issue of ineffective management and implementation of the contract can
lead to unhealthy relations. The non-performance of the contract as compared to the expected
levels may also pose as issues. The non-incremental revenue and increasing costs are the
potential issues.
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M4 Recommend ways in which an organisation can fulfil their post-pitch obligations,
highlighting any potential issues
The organisations can fulfil their post pitch obligations by performing the following tasks:
 Entering into the contract- The developer must be educated about the various terms and
conditions of the contract.
 Implementation of the contract- The developer must implement the contract according
to the stages and phases as stated in the contract and the agreements.
 Binding to the terms and conditions- The developer must abide the terms and
conditions of the contract. For example the no shop agreement etc. (Lewis, 2015).
 Maintain relations- The developer is obliged to maintain healthy relations with the
organisation. The effective management and functioning of the contract will aid in its
execution.
 Incremental revenue- The developer is responsible to earn the profits and revenues as
stated in the term budgets and in the agreements. The developer must initiate to increase
the revenues for the organisation.
 Monitoring and review- Constant monitoring and review of the contract must be
executed in order to fulfil the post-pitch obligation.
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D4 Critically evaluate the pitch and post-pitch outcomes to determine potential issues and
risk management.
Pitch outcomes
 The pitch outcomes can be positive by the bank panel accepting the pitch.
 The pitch outcome can be negative by the bank panel declining the pitch.
Post-Pitch outcomes
 The post pitch outcome can be positive by the successful implementation and execution
of the contract and the pitch (Shaw and Barry, 2015).
 The post pitch outcome can be negative by the bank panel discounting the pitch after
contracting and executing at first.
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Conclusion
In this assignment, the concepts of negotiation and pitching are elaborated. The assignment will
provide with detailed and extensive knowledge about the application of negotiation in contracts
and tenders. The assignment has identified negotiation as an important strategy that must be
educated to the small business manager in order to cope with the dynamic business environment.
The assignment has also applied the technique of pitching in order to deliberate the concept of
pitching in the tenders and contracts. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that
negotiation and pitching are essential concepts of the dynamic business environment.
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References
 Goldberg, S.B., Sander, F.E., Rogers, N.H. and Cole, S.R., 2014. Dispute resolution:
Negotiation, mediation and other processes. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
 Hackett, M., 2016. The Aqua group guide to procurement, tendering and contract
administration. John Wiley & Sons.
 Hobbin, N., 2012. The art of the pitch. Government News, 32(3), p.40.
 Huber, T.L., Fischer, T.A., Dibbern, J. and Hirschheim, R., 2013. A process model of
complementarity and substitution of contractual and relational governance in IS
outsourcing. Journal of Management Information Systems, 30(3), pp.81-114.
 Lewis, H., 2015. Bids, tenders and proposals: winning business through best practice.
Kogan Page Publishers.
 Paech, B., Heinrich, R., Zorn-Pauli, G., Jung, A. and Tadjiky, S., 2012, March.
Answering a request for proposal–challenges and proposed solutions. In International
Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software
Quality (pp. 16-29). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
 Pruitt, D.G., 2013. Negotiation behavior. Academic Press.
 Rubin, J.Z. and Brown, B.R., 2013. The social psychology of bargaining and negotiation.
Elsevier.
 Sampsell, D.H., 2012. Request-for-proposal (RFP) system with selective disclosure of
information from competing bidders. U.S. Patent Application 13/234,512.
 Shaw, W.H. and Barry, V., 2015. Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning.
 Soorjoo, M., 2012. Here's the Pitch: How to Pitch Your Business to Anyone, Get Funded,
and Win Clients. John Wiley & Sons.
 Steinbacher, E.K., Schmitz, C., Zupancic, D. and Lee, Y.C., 2012. Ready to Pitch?: How
Salespeople Engagement In Tenders Affects Vendors' Relational and Transactional
Attractiveness.
 Ting‐Toomey, S., 2015. Identity negotiation theory. The international encyclopedia of
interpersonal communication.
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