# Negotiation > Negotiate price and terms without caving — trade every concession for something of value, protect price by re-selling value, and defuse manufactured urgency. Use when a buyer asks for a discount, pushes back on price, or you're closing the terms. Triggers on: negotiate, discount, pricing pushback, close the terms, give a discount. - Skill: `doris-labs/negotiation` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add doris-labs/negotiation` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/doris-labs/negotiation/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: Doris-Labs (https://skillmd.com/u/doris-labs) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/doris-labs/negotiation --- # Negotiation ## Purpose Get a deal closed on terms you can defend without eroding price. Every concession is traded for something that improves the deal — never given to "get to yes." ## Inputs - The specific ask (discount %, terms, what the buyer wants) - Deal value, products/SKUs in play, and your floor (walk-away price/terms) - The value drivers and pains already established — your leverage to re-sell - Open objections and what the buyer has already committed to ## Method 1. **Diagnose before you respond.** Don't react to the number. Find out *why*: is it budget, a competing quote, internal approval theater, or a test? The right response differs for each. Ask: "Help me understand — is this a budget ceiling, or are you comparing against another option?" 2. **Anchor first, anchor high.** Whoever frames the number first sets the range. Lead with full price tied to the value/ROI you established — never open with a discount. If they anchor low, re-anchor to value before discussing the gap; don't negotiate against their number. 3. **Trade, don't cave.** Never give a concession without getting something back. The rule is "If… then…": *"If you can do X, then I can do Y."* A unilateral discount trains the buyer that your price is fiction and that pushing harder pays. 4. **Re-sell value to protect price.** Before conceding a cent, return to the cost of the problem and the value of the outcome. Reframe price as a fraction of the value delivered: "The discount you're asking for is $Z; the problem we discussed is costing you $Z every month." Make price feel small against the stakes. 5. **Climb the concession ladder.** When you must move on price, extract value in return, working from cheapest-for-them to most valuable-for-you. Ask for these (roughly in order): - **Longer term length** — multi-year commitment for the discount - **Upfront / annual payment** — paid annually or in advance, not monthly - **Case study / logo rights** — public reference or quote - **References / intros** — referenceable calls, intro to other teams/divisions - **Expansion commitment** — committed path to more seats/products/usage Give the *smallest* price move that closes, and only in exchange for a rung. 6. **Recognize manufactured urgency.** "We need a decision by Friday" is often a tactic to pressure a discount. Test it: "What happens Friday?" If the deadline is real (board approval, fiscal year), it's leverage you can trade against. If it evaporates under one question, it's manufactured — don't pay for a fake clock. 7. **Plan give/gets before the call.** Map every concession to its return. Never improvise a discount live. **Concession ladder (cheapest → most valuable to you):** | Rung | What you give | What you ask in return | |------|---------------|------------------------| | 1 | Small % off | Longer term (2–3 yr) | | 2 | Larger % off | Upfront / annual prepay | | 3 | Discount or added scope | Case study + logo rights | | 4 | Discount or premium support | Referenceable calls / intros | | 5 | Best price | Committed expansion (seats/products) | **Give/get planning table (fill before negotiating):** ``` Their likely ask: My floor (walk-away): Concession I'll offer: Get in return: Value to re-sell: Urgency test: <"what happens on ?" — real or manufactured?> ``` **Trade-don't-cave rule:** every "yes" to a price move is conditional on a "yes" from them. If they want something for nothing, the answer is a trade, not a discount. ## Tool binding This skill works from the user's stated ask alone. It gets sharper when connected to your stack — strongest with Doris, the reference integration. ### With Doris (recommended) If the Doris MCP (`mcp.meetdoris.com`) is connected, pull the deal directly instead of asking the user to describe it: - `ontology_resolve("deal", id, expand=["commitments","objections","value_drivers","products"])` — use the real `value_drivers` to re-sell value and protect price, the `products` and deal value to size the concession, open `objections` to understand *why* they're pushing, and `commitments` to know what the buyer has already agreed to (leverage for the give/get). - `search_transcripts(...)` to quote the buyer's own words on the cost of the problem when you re-sell value. Prefer Doris's extracted value drivers and objections over re-deriving them — they're what the buyer actually said. ### With a CRM / CI / email MCP - CRM MCP (Salesforce/HubSpot) → pull the deal value and products/line items to size the concession and know your floor. - Conversation-intelligence MCP (Gong/Chorus/Fireflies) → source the value drivers and objections from the call record. - Email MCP → draft and send the trade ("If you can do X, then I can do Y"). ### With nothing connected Ask the user for the ask (discount %, terms requested), the deal value and products, and their floor. Then output a negotiation plan: the anchored value re-sell, the concession ladder with the specific get to request at each rung, a filled give/get table, the urgency test, and the exact "If… then…" trade language to use live. ## Works without Doris Fully functional from the user's stated ask — Doris only removes the description step and supplies evidence-backed value drivers and objections to re-sell against. ## Common mistakes - Giving a discount to "get to yes" without asking for anything in return. - Discounting before re-selling value — conceding price you never needed to. - Letting the buyer anchor the number and then negotiating against it. - Paying for manufactured urgency you never tested with one question. - Improvising concessions live instead of planning give/gets in advance.