In the world of purchasing and sales, as well as in project management and many other areas, negotiation preparation is the key to success in negotiations. As a digital assistance system, ChatGPT can not only provide support here, but also revolutionise the way we prepare for negotiations. From research to strategy development – ChatGPT offers a wide range of options for taking negotiations to a new level. The trick is to formulate the right instructions, the so-called prompts. The more detailed you describe the situation and the framework conditions and describe the protagonists, the more precise and customised the answers you will receive.
Preparation and research: creating the information basis
Thorough research precedes every negotiation. ChatGPT can serve as a fast and efficient research assistance system. Let’s assume you work in purchasing or sales and are looking for information about suppliers or customers. Possible prompts to ChatGPT could be:
“List the leading manufacturing companies of [Product category], including their market shares and recent developments.”
“Create a comprehensive market analysis for [Product category], including key companies, average market prices, recent technological advances and consumer trends over the last three years.”
“Compare the product lines, price points, customer ratings and competition of the three largest companies in the industry [industry]. Add a SWOT analysis for each company to better understand their strengths and weaknesses.”
“List of all known supplying companies of [specific material] in [region]. Rate them on their delivery reliability, quality ratings and sustainable practices. I also need contact information and an assessment of how willing they may be to negotiate.”
Developing an argument: convincing with logic
The ability to develop a coherent argument is essential in negotiations. ChatGPT can help you to formulate arguments that increase your persuasiveness and assertiveness in a negotiation. Possible prompts to try out:
“I am a buyer for [spezific material] in the [industry]. Can you come up with a line of argument for enforcing price reductions that I can confront my suppliers with after I have had to swallow price increases over the last two years and circumstances have now changed and I want to turn back the screw.”
“Develop a detailed argument for the superiority of our [product name] over comparable products on the market. Consider technical specifications, customer reviews and price-performance ratio.”
“Formulate answers to common objections to our product, including price, availability and alleged technical defects. Use data from our latest market studies and customer surveys.”
ChatGPT can then generate a number of convincing points that will strengthen your negotiating position.
It could then go one step further like this:
“Can you give me an example dialogue?”
… to be continued in the second part …