Your Supplier Negotiation

You are the procurement lead. A supplier has sent you a quote — now you need to respond.

Your Scenario

A Vietnamese supplier quotes €22 per unit for 10,000 pieces of your product. Your budget ceiling is €17. You are the buyer. Write one sentence describing your product and why this supplier matters to you.

What the Supplier Wants

List two things the supplier likely cares about beyond price — then mark which one you can offer as a concession.

Supplier priorities

What I can offer

Your One Message

Decide: what is the single most important thing you must communicate — and what is the one thing you must never say directly?

Must get across

Must never say directly

Draft Your Opening

Write your opening negotiation message (5–7 sentences) in a formal register, restructuring the conversation away from price — use at least two conditional or hedged structures from today's lesson.

Read It as the Supplier

Re-read your message as if you are the supplier receiving it. Identify the one sentence that would make you most willing to negotiate — and the one word you would change to make it land better.

Why that word?

Discuss Share your opening message with a partner — which negotiation tactic from the article did they use without realising it?

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