In person…

Peter:So, I’ve been thinking a lot, and it seems to me that price is really the

only stumbling blocktoa deal.

Maxine:How do you mean?

Peter:The potential for a merger looks great –we’ve got a great fithere. And

looking at the market, the overall strategyit demands isconsolidation. In

my opinion, it’s not a question of growth for us, it’s a question of survival.

Maxine:Thebig playersare certainly moving in fast. But we’ve been through

this before. What are you driving at?

Peter:Sojust for argument’s sake, why don’t weflip it aroundfor a

second?

Maxine:All right. I’m listening.

Peter:If your company is worth €15 million… I was wondering… what do you

think your board might be willing to pay for ours…?

Maxine:Hmmm… Yours is a little smaller than ours. Probablysomething like

12.5.

Peter:I think we mightbe on to somethinghere.

Maxine:You could be right. We’ve certainlydone all the footwork, and I’m

convinced of the value ofa merger.

Peter:Why don’t yourun it byyour partners?

Maxine:I’ll do that, and get back to you next week.

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Debrief

Peter and Maxine have successfully explored an alternative that appears to

remove the main stumbling block to their agreement. Let’s go through their

whole discussion in detail to examine the language they use.

In the first section of the dialog, Peter calls Maxine to start talks back up.

Maxine: Peter – How are you doing?

Peter: Fine. Look, I’ve been thinking about our companies, and if you’re still

open to the ideaI was wondering if we could get together to talk briefly about

some other possibilities.

After making a little small talk, Peter suggests restarting talks. At this stage, he

is quite vague or indefinite about what he has in mind – he says he just wants to

“talk about some other possibilities.” This vagueness keeps a casual tone in the

conversation that may also help to arouse Maxine’s curiosity. At the same time,

Peter uses a lot of very indirectrequest forms, which has the effect of making

his language very polite: He says, “If you’re still open to the idea…” – that is, if

you are still willing – “I was wondering if wecould get togetherbriefly.” When

restarting talks after an earlier failure, using such causal but polite language is a

good strategy for getting a positive response.

Let’s review some more useful expressions when can use for starting the

discussion back up.

 I’ve been thinking, and I’ve come up with a different angle on everything.

 I think I see things in a new light, and I’d love to talk it over.

 You are going to be very interested in the new developments, I think.

 I think you’ll be excited about this new approach.

 I’ve got a new idea I’d like to run by you.

To come up withorsee a different angle on something andto see things in a

new light both mean to look at things from a different point of view.To run an

idea by someone means to discuss it briefly. Using these types of idiomatic

expressions helps create a casual, informal tone.

Maxine agrees to talk on Wednesday. As the dialog fades back in, they are

meeting in person. What is the first thing that Peter brings up?

Peter:So, I’ve been thinking a lot, and it seems to me that the price is really

the only stumbling blockto a deal.

First, Peter identifies the main stumbling blockor obstacle to agreement. Before

we can remove a barrier, we must mutually recognize it.

What are some more useful expressions for identifying obstacles?

 The delivery date really seems to be what’s holding us back.

 The main issue ispayment terms, from what I can tell.

 At this point the credit period seems to be the main bone of contention.

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To be a bone of contention meansto be a source of conflict.

After Peter has identified the priceas the main stumbling block, Maxine asks for

further clarification. How does Peter respond?

Maxine:How do you mean?

Peter:The potential for a merger looks great –we’ve got a great fithere. And

looking at the market, the overall strategyit demands isconsolidation. In

my opinion, it’s not a question of growth for us; it’s a question of survival.

Here, Peter lays out his argument for a merger. He has several points: First,

there’s a great fit ormatch between his and Maxine’s companies. Second, the

market is trending towards consolidation, that is, smaller companies aremerging

or being bought up to formlarger companies. Third, this marketdemands or

requires smaller businesses to follow the trend in order to survive. As he puts it,

“It’s not a question of growth for us; it’s a question of survival.” In other words,

the issue is not merely how to grow quickly, but how to keep the businesses

alive.

But Maxine has heard this all before hasn’t she?

Maxine:The big players are certainly moving in fast. But we’ve been through

this before. What are you driving at?

Maxine agrees with Peter – she sums up his statement by saying, “The big

players” – or larger companies – “are moving in fast,” that is, they are

developing rapidly, and the competition is getting stronger and stronger. But, as

Maxine puts it, she and Peter have “been through all this before,” in other

words, they have already talked about these issues before. She wants to know

“what he is driving at,” in other words, what is the point he’s trying to make?

“What are you driving at?” is a way of drawing someone out, that is, getting

someone to be more specific and more direct. Peter has been telling Maxine

about his new idea one step at a time towarm her up to the idea, but Maxine

wants him to get straight to the point.

How else can we draw someone out?

 I’m not quite sure where this is going…

 Where are you headed with this?

 Stop beating around the bush – what are you saying?

 What’s the upshot?

To beat around the bush meansto avoid talking about the main issue. Upshot

refers to the main details ormain point.

After, Maxine asks Peter to be more specific, he comes to his main new proposal

– the reason he has asked her to meet with him today.

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Successful Negotiations

Peter:So justfor argument’s sake, why don’t weflip it aroundfor a second?

Maxine:All right. I’m listening.

Peter:If your company is worth €15 million… I was wondering… what do you

think your board might be willing to pay for ours…?

Peter is thinking outside the box toexplore alternatives. He says, “why don’t we

flip it around for a second?” This means, why don’t we look at it from a

completely different point of view. What is Peter’s suggestion? He quite literally

wants to flip around the role of buyer and seller – if Maxine wants 15 million for

her company, how much would she be willing to pay for his?

Exploring alternatives is really the heart ofhandling blockage. This often means

trying to see things in a new light or from a different point of view. Let’s go over

some more phrases we can use.

 How about we look at this from another angle?

 Let’s try something different.

 What about putting this in a different light?

 There might be another way to approach this.

 Let’s come at this from a different direction.

How much does Maxine say she would be willing to pay for Peter’s company?

Maxine:Hmmm… Yours is a little smaller than ours, probablysomething like

12.5.

Peter:I think we mightbe on to somethinghere.

Here Maxine makes a first tentative or careful offer, and Peter responds

positively: To be on to something meansto be close to finding a solution or

reaching a goal.

After we have successfully overcome blockage, the next step is to give a positive

reaction to the new proposal. Let’s look at some other language we can use to

move towards agreement.

 You’re right.

 You have a point.

 I think I can accept that.

 I think we’ve made some progress.

 I think I can a way to solving our differences.

What is Maxine’spoint of view on Peter’s new proposal? She is cautious, but

optimistic…

Maxine:You could be right. We’ve certainly done all thefootwork, and I’m

convinced of the value of a merger.

Peter:Why don’t yourun it byyour partners?

Maxine:I’ll do that, and get back to you next week.

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Maxine is positive but careful not to commit – she says, “You could be right.”

She points out that they’ve already “done all the footwork.” “Footwork” refers to

preparation work. Maxine is referring to the fact that she and Peter have already

researched a merger carefully, so they are prepared to move quickly to a deal.

The dialog ends with Peter asking Maxine to take action. He suggests she should

run the proposalby her partners, that is, she should ask them what they think

about it.

Taking actionis a critical step inremoving obstacles. After we see apotential

way forward, we need to make aconcrete, or specific, plan for the next step to

take. To finish off, let’s review some more useful phrases we can use to take

action .

 What’s the next move?

 Let’s draft up a contract.

 I suggest the next step is to get everything in writing.

 Can you fax me a letter of agreement?

 Please send me a detailed proposal by email.

Now it’s your turn to practice the language we have studied in this episode.

First, let’s review identifying obstacles. Imagine you are in a discussion that has

reached an impasse. Based on the cues, identify the main stumbling blockto

agreement.

For example, if you hear…

Example cue: main issue – payment terms<beep>

You might say something like…

Example answer:The main issue is payment terms, from what I can tell.

Other useful language use can use to identify obstacles includes “What seems to

be holding us back is…” and“what seems to be the main bone of contention is…”

After each exercise, we’ll play an example answer. Are you ready? Let’s give it a

try.

Cue 1:holding us back – delivery date

Learner 1:

Cue 2:credit period – bone of contention

Learner 2:

Cue 3:price – stumbling block.

Learner 3:

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Successful Negotiations

Answer 1:Delivery date really seems to be what’s holding us back.

Answer 2:At this point the credit period seems to be the main bone of

contention.

Answer 3:As far as I can tell, the only stumbling block to agreement is price.

Now, let’s go over some language for exploring alternatives. You’ll hear a series

of cues that consist of jumbled or out of order phrases. Repeat the sentence in

the correct order.

For example, if you hear…

Example cue:Flip this around for a second why don’t we

You should say…

Example answer:Why don’t we flip this around for a second?

We’ll play example answers after each exercise. Are you ready?

Cue 1: Something different let’s try.

Learner 1:

Cue 2: from another angle we look at how about this?

Learner 2:

Cue 3: this from a different direction let’s come at

Learner 3:

Cue 4: approach this another way to there might be.

Learner 4:

Answer 1: Let’s try something different.

Answer 2: How about we look at this from another angle?

Answer 3: Let’s come at this from a different direction.

Answer 4:There might be another way to approach this.

That’s all for this episode on overcoming blockage, which is part of our ongoing

series on negotiation skills. We’ve studied restarting talks, identifying obstacles,

drawing someone out, exploring alternatives, moving towards agreement, and

taking action.

Thanks for listening, and see you back soon.

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Language Review

A. Restarting Talks

Review useful language for restarting talks by filling in the blanks with words

from the box below.