Detailed Report on Pitching and Negotiation Skills in Business

This report provides a comprehensive overview of pitching and negotiation skills in a business context. It defines negotiation, explains its importance in resolving conflicts and fostering mutual understanding, and identifies key stakeholders involved in the process. The report outlines essential steps for effective negotiation, including preparation, information exchange, clarification, bargaining, and implementation, emphasizing the significance of communication and decision-making skills. Furthermore, it details the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, highlighting steps such as vendor selection, project boundary establishment, and response review, alongside the contractual process and necessary documentation for securing business agreements. The document underscores the importance of strategic planning, clear communication, and thorough research in achieving successful business outcomes.

Pitching and Negotiation
Skills
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Table of Contents
Pitching and Negotiation Skills.......................................................................................................1
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 What is negotiation, reasons as why it occurs along with and stakeholders..........................3
P2 Steps and information which required for negotiating...........................................................4
P3 RFP process and required documentations.............................................................................6
P4 Contractual process along with required documentations......................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Negotiation refers a process of reaching to the final agreement by discussing with other
party (Collet, 2018). This study is going to show importance of negotiation as how it can help
both and all involved parties in solving problems and eliminating conflict of interest. It will also
show reasons of using negotiation in completing business activity in an effective manner.
Further, it will discuss some steps which can allow both and all involved parties in negotiation
process as how they can complete this process without hurting others and getting hurt to
themselves. It will also show important of having communication skill for negotiating as well as
developing pitch for promoting products and services and making people aware about it. Lastly,
it will discuss RFP document and steps by which companies can identify the best vendor and can
complete its project.
P1 What is negotiation, reasons as why it occurs along with and stakeholders
Negotiation can be defined as a discussion which occur in 2 or more than 2 parties in
order to make an agreement and reach to the final decision with compromising something and
having mutual understanding. Negotiation plays an important role in running business and in
partnership type of business. When companies merge with others and make an agreement then
they put some rules and regulations (Quigley, 2018). It is not necessary that both parties have
agreed on all rules so, for making agreement successful and reaching to a final decision them
negotiation. In the process of negotiation both parties put their needs, requirements and wants
after analysing and evaluating they both agreed on each other’s needs to some extent and make
an agreement. It is mainly useful in eliminating situations of conflict or conflict of interest.
It can also be said that formal discussion between 2 or more than 2 parties in order to
reach an agreement for solving issues is known as negotiation. To get things done at their own
without taking help of legal advice, without getting hurt, without going to court when both
parties solve problems with mutual understanding , compromising is known as negotiation
process. In the context of Walmart it can be said that it tries to establish a joint vision as well as
problem solving process b y sharing informations and making aware to P& G about their vision
and problem which they are facing. Sarah Talley also focused on negotiation process with
Walmart and by doing so they acquired a deep understanding of Walmart culture at the time of
finding new money in the supply chain (Young and Ampntel Chafiz, 2019).
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Stakeholders are those people who are involved in the process of negotiation and those with
whom problems are related. But it is not possible for all members to complete process of
negotiation and talk with other parties. So, for that both parties select stakeholder representative
at their own with majority of votes and by identifying experience, skills and ways of talking.
Both parties select their one stakeholder representative who speak on behalf of the whole group
and try to reach to an agreement with mutual understanding. In negotiation process both parties
try to listen needs and queries of each other’s and discuss on the main issues and both parties
when found that their some needs and queries have been addressed then they reach to the final
agreement and decision (Mahmoud, Ahmad and Yusoff, 2016).
P2 Steps and information which required for negotiating
Negotiation is an important though tough process so, it is important for stakeholder
representative and both parties’ members to have some skills by which they can make agree to
other parties on their terms and solve the main problems. There is requirement of some skills
which plays an important role in negotiating and making this process successful such as:
Communication: Communication is one of the main skills which is required in making
negotiation successful and reaching to an agreement without hurting others and getting hurt. It is
not just limited to speaking in an effective manner but also require active listening. Active
listening is vital for understanding views, needs and queries of other party.
Decision making: Decision making skills also required in negotiating as stakeholder
representative requires taking the final decision for reaching final agreement. For that they also
required to have skills of critical analysis or critical thinking. Viewing both positive and negative
sides of each factor is important for making the best decision (Stages of Negotiation Process,
2020).
There are mainly common 5 steps of negotiating or reaching to an agreement such as:
Preparation: Preparation is the main step and both stakeholders representative require making
planning by analyzing conditions of both parties on which topic they need to discuss. By
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analyzing they can also identify their own strengths along with most desired and least desired
outcomes. Then they need to make a list which they are going to put in front of other parties and
viewing as those contents can help them out in reaching to an agreement. It also includes having
knowledge of ground rules or basic informations such as: whom, where, when constraints of
negotiation are going to happen.
Exchanging information: It is the step in which both parties and representative stakeholders of
both parties exchange their initial position. One of the main purposes of this step is to allow both
parties to share their underlying interest as well as concerns. Having proper knowledge is also
important for both parties. It is also important for both parties to known that what each party
wants at the end of the negotiation as what will be their final requirements and at what point they
can complete thus negotiation process.
Clarification: It is the step which needs to be followed just after exchanging information where
both parties clarify or continue discussion for making their sides prove and making agreed to
other parties. They both justify their views and try to make other party understand and make
them agree on their views. It is important for both parties to have skills of active listening in this
stage because if one party of negotiation disagrees then they both need to be calm for reaching a
point of understanding.
Bargaining: It is also known as give and take step because in this step of negotiation, each
negotiating party proposes different counter-offers for the problem while making and
managing their concessions. This process can be won by that party who has an effective
communication skill, calm feedback, active listening, face to face interaction and body
language skill. Because they can only make other party understand and agree on their views
and bargain (Jung and Krebs, 2019).
Conclusion or implementation: When both parties agreed on some shared views, needs and
acceptable solutions then both parties thank to each others for reaching an agreement and final
decision. They both believe that by creating conflict they cannot even take some advantages so it
is better to negotiate and maintaining a good relationship. After reaching to an agreement both
outline the expectations of each party and ensure that the compromise will be implemented
effectively. It also includes a written agreement in order to confirm implementation.
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P3 RFP process and required documentations
A request for proposal is an important business related document which consists of some
important informations or details about a project or bid from contractor in order to complete the
project in an effective manner. Mainly non profit and governmental organizations create or
outlines all requirements for their required project. One of the main aims of creating this RFP is
to identify the best vendor who can complete the given project in timely and successful manner.
Vendors often deny or reject this request so, it is important for issuer to have influencing and
communication skills by which they can make vendors able or influence to accept request of
completing project. There are some steps which are required to perform or follow for completing
this process such as:
Finding vendor: It is not counted in steps of RFP but it is important for companies or issuers to
let unknown companies allow competing against the familiar ones who can increase the
likelihood of finding the right or the best suited vendor for current needs.
Accountability: For making RFP standard and effective it is important to have a RFP which can
encourage transparency as well as fairness and reducing likelihood of bias or favouritism.
Some standard steps of RFP include:
Establishing project boundaries: Setting main boundaries by including all major constraints is
the first step. It allows companies and issuers that for what exactly they are going to identify the
best vendor. For this they need to ask to their leader and stakeholders as what is their expected
budget, timeline of competing project and other features related to the project in order to have all
details and knowledge about the project.
Identification of advisors: Writing a RFP is not an easy task because it involves a lot of work,
knowledge of company and the most important understands about vendors. They also require
assigning experienced person for each project By identifying appropriate stakeholders and
skilled advisors RFP can be created in an effective manner. After that they need to create an
effective RFP.
Setting score criteria: For identifying the best vendor it is important for companies and issuers
to draft a scoring criterion as it reflects their priorities and also help them out in getting the best
vendor or experienced stakeholder for the project. They can rank replies on 1-10 for each criteria
and those who achieve 30% by answering questions related to the project can get opportunity of
selecting for the project.
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Circulating RFP: After creating RFP it is important for companies to post that RFP in order to
reach to vendors. The place of posting RFP depends upon the type of vendor to whom company
wants to reach. For examples if companies want to work with local companies then it will be
better for them to post RFP on business journals. Companies often focus on funding charities and
those companies who have experience in bidding and related project.
Reviewing responses: In this stage they need to perform an initial read through of the responses
in order to pay proper attention to proposed solution (Liu and et.al., 2019).
Researching technology: After getting suggestions from Vendors Company requires to do
research at their own before using that solution in order to make the process successful. Novel
technology is known as the best fit than tools with which company is familiar.
Researching vendor’s track record: After all of these it is also important for company to
identify about those vendors and getting informations of those who are competing for business.
By making an effective use of references and samples company can perform this step and can
match with own business’s constraints like size, target market budget and all.
Negotiating: Selecting vendor or getting response does not mean that company will have to
accept it. It can either accept or use it as a starting point. They need to refine details at the time of
follow up conversations with vendor. After reaching to final agreement on detail they need to
make sure to document them in the contract (A RFP Process, 2011).
So, from the above discussed steps it can be said that company can complete this RFP process
and can also get the best suited vendor for the project.
P4 Contractual process along with required documentations
Contractual process refers a process of placing contract or making an agreement which
includes all terms and conditions related to business activity. In a process of contract for bidding
the main aims of contractors is to select the best vendor and preventing themselves against
lawsuit. A contract can be made of trading, business activities and purchasing products which are
required for completing a project in an effective manner (du Marais, 2018). In the context of bid
and for completing a project it can be said that manager of an organization send a bid to a group
of vendors for response. After getting request, vendors analyse that proposal or bid and calculate
the cost on which they can continue the project and complete it in a successful manner. There are
some steps of contractual process such as:
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Planning and research: Before bid process company requires finding a project which can fit
with their company’s qualifications. They need to select project for bid process in which they
have experience and appropriate skills. By viewing business plan as a tool they can better align
project with bid.
Preparing bid or project: After completing research they need to make a bid and make other
party aware and influence or make believe that why they are perfect for the project. They also
require to customize business plan in order to show that how they can fulfil all requirements and
complete project in a successful manner. By considering all factors like budget, time, labour and
others they can complete contractual process for bid.
Submitting project: There are different ways of submitting project or bid. One of the common
or basis way is uploading it on online portal from where governmental agencies can have bill and
have access to it. But before uploading bid to any platform company have knowledge as how
platform works and of they chose this platform then what consequences may occur. Because any
mistake in this stage can create several problems and failure of acceptance of project or bid. So,
it can be said that by checking all submission requirements and following all rules they can make
it successful (Contract Bidding, 2018).
Presentation: Submission is not the last or final stage as after submitting project company is
being invited for small presentation. They need to develop a pitch which can attract target people
and can make them believe that their selection was right and appropriate and they have taken the
right decision by choosing your company.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarized that pitching as well as negotiation skill
played an important role in completing business activity and also for eliminating conflict of
interest. For making other party agreed on terms and conditions and solving problems can
provide some effective outcomes to them. Further, it has also shown some steps which are
involved in negotiating process or all factors which need to be considered by issuer for making
vendors agree on all terms. Further, this study has also discussed importance of request for
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proposal document by which companies can get appropriate vendor for bid and other business
activity or completing project. Lastly this report has shown principles of developing a pitch for
promoting new product by companies. It has also shown appropriate and effective outcomes of
pitch for promoting product.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Collet, T., 2018. Meaning negotation in academic discourse: A typology of citations as semantic
markers. Discourse and Interaction, 11(2), pp.5-26.
du Marais, B., 2018. PPP Contracts in France through the 2015-2016 Big Bang Reform. Eur.
Procurement & Pub. Private Partnership L. Rev., 13, p.39.
Jung, S. and Krebs, P., 2019. Preparation and Negotiation Process. In The Essentials of Contract
Negotiation (pp. 7-19). Springer, Cham.
Liu, N. and et.al., 2019, July. Automate RFP Response Generation Process Using FastText Word
Embeddings and Soft Cosine Measure. In Proceedings of the 2019 International
Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science (pp. 12-17).
Mahmoud, M.A., Ahmad, M.S. and Yusoff, M.Z.M., 2016. A conceptual automated negotiation
model for decision making in the construction domain. In Distributed Computing and
Artificial Intelligence, 13th International Conference (pp. 13-21). Springer, Cham.
Quigley, T., 2018. The Hostage/Crisis Negotiation Team Member's Perception of the Mental
Health Professional.
Young, L.M. and Ampntel Chafiz, R., 2019. The Promise of Transparency: Stakeholder Views
on Changes to the EU Trade Negotiation Process. Estey Journal of International Law
and Trade Policy, 19(1753-2020-088), pp.115-132.
Online
Stages of Negotiation Process. 2020. [Online]. Available through
<https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-negotiate#the-5-stages-of-the-
negotiation-process>
A RFP Process. 2011. [Online]. Available through <https://www.techsoup.org/support/articles-
and-how-tos/overview-of-the-rfp-process
>
Contract Bidding. 2018. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/contract-bidding>
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