What to prepare before a negotiation call

The best preparation for a negotiation call is a one-page brief you can glance at while the other side is talking. Not a deck, not a folder of PDFs. A short document with your objective, both positions, what you can give, and what you cannot say. This is the structure Savvy uses for its own briefs, and it works on paper just as well.

Why one page

During a call you have seconds, not minutes. If a fact lives in a 40-page proposal you will not find it in time. Pull the facts you might need into the brief. Note which document each came from so you can check it during the call.

Write it the day before, when you have time to check the documents. Then read it once before the call starts.

The fields

Objective

One sentence. What does a good outcome look like when you hang up? "Renew at the current rate with a two-year term" is an objective. "Discuss the renewal" is a calendar entry.

Our position and their position

Two short paragraphs. Write what you propose and why. Then write what they want and the pressure behind it. Writing their position down forces you to take it seriously before the call instead of discovering it during.

Priorities, in order

Three to five items, ranked. When a trade-off comes up mid-call, this list is how you decide in seconds. If price is second and term length is first, you know which one to give on.

Agenda

The sections you expect the conversation to move through, each with a one-line objective and two or three talking points. Savvy uses each section's keywords to track the agenda and weigh that part of the brief.

Desired outcomes

Concrete things you want to leave the call with: a signed term sheet, a date for the legal review, a named owner on their side. These are the items you should hear yourself asking for before the end.

Questions to ask

The questions you need answered to make your decision. What is driving the date? Which budget line does this come from? Who signs? Write them as you would say them. These are also what the opportunity scan draws on when the other side says something that opens the door to one of them.

Facts to use, with sources

The numbers and commitments you may need to quote: the SLA figure, the discount ceiling, the delivery date in the signed order. Each one with the document it comes from. If you cannot point to the source, it does not go in this list.

Concessions

What you can give, on what condition, and whether it needs approval. "Extend payment terms to 60 days, if they commit to a two-year term, no approval needed." "Drop the onboarding fee, only if volume exceeds the tier, requires approval from finance." Writing the condition next to the concession stops you giving it away for nothing.

Red lines

Things that end the deal if crossed. Minimum price, latest start date, exclusivity you cannot grant. Keep these few and real. A red line you would cross is not a red line.

Prohibited claims

Statements you must not make, usually because they are untrue, unverified, or a legal exposure. "Do not claim SOC 2 certification is complete." "Do not quote a delivery date before Q3." These are easy to blurt under pressure, so write them down.

Unauthorised commitments

Promises you are not empowered to make. "Cannot commit to custom development." "Cannot commit to a standalone discount." The phrasing you want in the moment is "I will need to confirm that", and the list is what tells you when to say it.

Risks

What could go wrong in the call, and what you plan to do if it does. They bring in a competitor's quote. They ask for a reference you do not have. Two or three lines each.

How Savvy reads the brief

If you keep the brief in Savvy instead of on paper, the same fields do more work.

Savvy versions the brief and uses the version you approve for the meeting. Savvy sends the whole brief, up to six source excerpts and recent transcript turns to your model provider with each request. A card can quote the brief and its sources. The privacy section shows exactly what leaves your Mac.

Red lines, prohibited claims and unauthorised commitments become hard constraints. When any speaker's turn matches one, Savvy shows a red-line card immediately, before the model has even answered, with the constraint as the line to avoid. Hard constraints override the brief, and the brief overrides any general guidelines you have loaded.

Questions to ask and priorities feed the background scan that runs between triggers. When the other side says something that touches one, and the advice would be concrete, you get a "Savvy noticed" card. When it would be generic, you get nothing, on purpose.

The response language is a setting on the brief, separate from the transcription language. You can hold the call in Spanish or Catalan and read the guidance in English, or the other way round.

A short checklist

Before you dial in:

1. Objective in one sentence.
2. Both positions written down.
3. Priorities ranked.
4. Every fact you might quote has a source.
5. Every concession has a condition.
6. Red lines, prohibited claims and unauthorised commitments are few and specific.
7. You have read the whole thing once, today.

That is the preparation. The call itself is a different skill, but a call that starts from this page goes better than one that starts from memory. The features section shows the panel with a real card, and How Savvy decides when to speak explains the rules behind it.