Unit 1/2: English Idioms for Negotiations & Debrief

Question 1

Richard: …it was real hard work but finally we came to an agreement, which I’m very relieved about to be honest. So, anyways, how is it going with your negotiations with China? Were you able to hammer out a deal yet?

Sam: No, unfortunately not yet. It was moving fairly quickly in the beginning, but for the past few weeks we are getting bogged down by every little detail.

Richard: Well, it ain’t as simple as it should be. So, what’s the holdup? Are they squeezing you on price?

Sam: Not that, but you know… the fee structure and quote wasn’t a big bone of contention.

Richard: Oh yes?

Sam: Yes, they agreed to the price, but not before they threw us a curve early on by asking for a 25% discount on any billing above 200,000. It’s not the idea of a discount in general, but the 25%.

Richard: Yes, that is really pushing it. I’ve agreed to 6% a few times before, but I draw the line at 10%.

Sam: Right, I agree. 25% is giving away the farm. Anyway, they then backed off after we had a little wrangling. It’s possibly only a ploy, since they’re now trying to play hardball on many other issues.

Richard: Well, I’ve had that before. Two years ago, I was dealing with a big Argentinean distributor. They came out with a bunch of crazy demands, and then backed off when we called them on it. But after that, they kept talking about how they had given up so much ground.

Sam: That’s the oldest trick in the book, isn’t it?

Richard: Exactly. They thought we’d cave in to their demands on all other issues. But we didn’t, and it worked out in the end. I guess all you need to do is bide your time and they’ll see that you won’t fall for it?

Sam: That’s my strategy now. But it could also be risky to wait and lose the momentum. We haven’t exactly reached a stalemate yet, but it’s almost time to turn up the heat, if you know what I mean.

Richard: Sure, so what are they getting hung up on?

Sam: Well, for example the payment terms. They’re asking for net 90, which is a real stretch. [Fade out]

Answer 1

Sie kamen mit einer Menge verrückter Forderungen und zogen sich dann zurück, als wir sie zur Rede stellten. Aber danach redeten sie immer wieder darüber, wie sie so viel nachgegeben hatten.

Question 2

Debrief: Idioms for Negotiations

Let’s look at the idioms in the dialog again that Richard and Sam used in their conversation. Richard finished explaining a deal he was recently involved in and now he wants to turn the conversation to Sam.

Richard: …it was real hard work but finally we came to an agreement, which I’m very relieved about to be honest. So, anyways, how is it going with your negotiations with China? Were you able to hammer out a deal yet?

To change the topic, Richard uses “so, anyways” and then asks if Sam has managed to “hammer out a deal” with a company from China. A deal could be any kind of agreement or contract, and if you “hammer” a deal “out,” it means that you have completed the deal in a successful way. “Hammering out a deal” sounds like hard work, and that’s what it often is.

See some more ways to use the idiom “to hammer out a deal:”

“We still didn’t manage to hammer out a deal, although we’ve been making a lot of concessions.”

“They’ve been talking about cooperating for quite a while, so, why don’t they just hammer out a deal now”.

So, was Sam able to hammer out a deal?

Sam: No, unfortunately not yet. It was moving fairly quickly in the beginning, but for the past few weeks we are getting bogged down by every little detail.

Sam explains why he hasn’t been able to hammer out a deal. He says that they keep “getting bogged down” by details. A “bog” is an area of wet or muddy ground, like a swamp. If you try to walk through a bog, you could imagine how “getting bogged down” can mean to move slowly. When negotiations get bogged down, progress is difficult. Here you can see a few more examples:

“My cooperation with Randsom Inc. got bogged down by concerns over consulting fees.

“Negotiations got bogged down when the two companies couldn’t agree over intellectual property rights.”

Then Richard asks what caused the negotiation to get “bogged down.”

Richard: Well, it ain’t as simple as it should be. So, what’s the holdup? Are they squeezing you on price?

Sam: Not that, but you know… the fee structure and quote wasn’t a big bone of contention.

Richard asks about the “holdup,” being the reason why things have stopped or slowed down. And he guesses it to be the most common holdup in negotiations: the cost. More specifically, he asks if the Chinese are “squeezing” Sam on costs, or putting pressure on him to reduce the cost.

But Sam explains, costs – or the fee structure and quote – aren’t the real “bone of contention.” When you disagree with someone, especially in a negotiation, then the “bone of contention” is the specific point that you disagree about. It can be the costs, the timelines, the terms, or any other factor that is part of a deal. Let’s see some more ways of using the idiom “bone of contention:”

“The amount of compensation that should be payed is the real bone of contention in the negotiations with the company.

“If a minor disagreement becomes a major bone of contention, they’ll probably never hammer out a deal.”

Now Sam explains more about the difficulties in his negotiation.

Sam: Yes, they agreed to the price, but not before they threw us a curve early on by asking for a 25% discount on any billing above 200,000. It’s not the idea of a discount in general, but the 25%.

According to Sam, the other company asked for a 25% discount on any fees over 200,000 euros. A way a company can limit consulting costs. But 25% is a too big a request and it complicated the negotiations. It seems like the company from China surprised Sam with this demand. Doing this, we say – as Sam does – that someone has “thrown us a curve.” You could also say “to throw someone a curve ball,” but normally we drop the word “ball.” What’s a curve ball then? In baseball, a “curve,” or “curve ball,” is a pitch that is very hard for a batter to hit.

See some other ways to use “to throw someone a curve” when talking about a surprising problem during a negotiation:

“The worker’s council threw them a curve when they suddenly demanded to allow working shifts in the busy periods.”

“Bureau Supplies Incorporated threw its most loyal supplier a curve by asking for a 15% discount.”

What’s Richards’s opinion on the request for a 25% discount?

Richard: Yes, that is really pushing it. I’ve agreed to 6% a few times before, but I draw the line at 10%.

Richard agrees with Sam and says that 25% is “pushing it,” or asking for too much. He also agreed to discounts in the past, but he’s got a limit to how much he is willing to accept. He says, he “draws the line” at 10%. Whenever you set a limit, in negotiation or anywhere else, you can say you “draw the line.” Let’s use the idiom in a short dialog.

A: Do you think we should agree to a price reduction?

B: A small reduction is okay, but I think we should draw the line at 2%.

Sam appreciates Richard’s help, as you can hear:

Sam: Right, I agree. 25% is giving away the farm.

The idiom “to give away the farm” means to give much and not getting much in return. Sam uses the idiom to describe a 25% discount as being too much. Here are some more ways to use the idiom “to give away the farm”.

Why did you offer the major discount at the beginning of your pitch and gave away the farm so soon?”

They’re willing to share some of their content in exchange for our technology, but we’re certainly not giving away the farm.

Now Sam continues explaining the situation.

Sam: Right, I agree. 25% is giving away the farm. Anyway, they then backed off after we had a little wrangling. It’s possibly only a ploy, since they’re now trying to play hardball on many other issues.

Sam said the Chinese company eventually agreed to his company’s fee structure. Meaning it “backed off” the discount issue. If you back off something, you take a softer position or stop demanding something in a negotiation.

But why would the Chinese company do that? Sam suspects it being some kind of “ploy,” or strategy. He explains that they’re “playing hardball” on other issues now. This is another idiom related to baseball. If you play “hardball” with someone, you’re acting strong and aggressive. Expressions like this really highlight how competitive negotiations can be.

See some more ways of using the idiom “to play hardball:”

“When a customer still hasn’t paid after half a year, we normally call the lawyers and play hardball.”

“The German government played hardball with the car companies to encourage environmental consciousness.”

Now you can hear Richard talking about his experience with this type of ploy or strategy.

Richard: Well, I’ve had that before. Two years ago, I was dealing with a big Argentinean distributor. They came out with a bunch of crazy demands, and then backed off when we called them on it. But after that, they kept talking about how they had given up so much ground.

It’s a simple strategy: Initially someone makes a demand for something that’s not really important or possible. Then they back off. By doing that it seems they’ve “given ground,” or agreed to compromise. The idea is that they can then ask for something in return.

“Giving ground” is a part of negotiations. Neither side ever gets all they want, meaning someone has to “give ground.” See how else to use this common negotiation idiom:

“The mediator has told both parties to give some ground in order to reach a deal.”

“We could form a partnership, if Technicons just gives a little ground to us in the Asian market.”

Now, back to the dialog.

Sam: That’s the oldest trick in the book, isn’t it?

Richard: Exactly. They thought we’d cave in to their demands on all other issues.

Sam calls this negotiation strategy “the oldest trick in the book.” Which is an expression to describe a familiar or often used trick. Richard agrees, and says that the other party thought he would “cave in to their demands.” “Cave in” doesn’t have much to do with caves. It’s more like to “give in” or “give up.” If someone asks for, something and you cave in, then you give them what they want.

How else can we use the idiom? Here are some more examples of “caving in to a demand.”

“The company owners caved in to the union’s demand for higher wages, after the staff had been on strike for two weeks.”

“The landlord finally caved in to our demands for a new roof, after there was a major moisture damage in the top floor apartment.”

Did Richard cave in to the demands of the Chinese company? Listen now.

Richard: Exactly. They thought we’d cave in to their demands on all other issues. But we didn’t, and it worked out in the end. I guess all you need to do is bide your time and they’ll see that you won’t fall for it?

Richard says he “bided his time.” That is a quite common way of saying “to wait patiently.” Sometimes that’s what you have to do in a negotiation, especially if someone is putting you under a lot of pressure. See this idiom “to bide your time” with a short dialog now:

A: Will you go along with the price the supplier’s asking for?

B: No way. We’re just bidding our time until they agree to reduce the price. Does Sam agree to wait patiently in this situation?

Sam: That’s my strategy now. But it could also be risky to wait and lose the momentum. We haven’t exactly reached a stalemate yet, but it’s almost time to turn up the heat, if you know what I mean.

Sam believes that waiting will ruin the “momentum,” or the speed of progress in the negotiations. When a progress stops, we say that we’ve “reached a stalemate,” or stopped negotiating because we can’t agree. Sam says they haven’t reached a stalemate, and he thinks it’ll be better to “turn up the heat”, which is the opposite of waiting. It means applying pressure and forcing the other party to agree or to compromise.

Let’s first look at the expression “to reach a stalemate.”

“The investors and city developers reached a stalemate over where exactly the new hotel should be located.”

“I’m afraid we’ve reached a stalemate in our negotiations with South America, so don’t expect a deal in the near future.”

Now let’s take a closer look at the expression “to turn up the heat.”

“I’m curious how their lawyers will react if we turn up the heat and demand interest on all the money they owe us.”

“The investment bank has turned up the heat on Layden Corp., and they are threatening to seize assets if the outstanding debt payments aren’t made.”

Richard has got a last question before the dialog ends:

Richard: Sure, so what are they getting hung up on?

Sam: Well, for example the payment terms. They’re asking for net 90, which is a real stretch.

Richard would like to know what they’re “getting hung up on.” If you get hung up on something in a negotiation, you can’t get past it. It becomes a “bone of contention”.

Answer 2

Briefing

Schauen wir uns noch einmal die Redewendungen im Dialog an, die Richard und Sam in ihrem Gespräch verwendet haben. Richard beendete einen Deal, an dem er kürzlich beteiligt war, und will das Gespräch nun an Sam richten.
Richard:… es war wirklich harte Arbeit, aber schließlich haben wir eine Vereinbarung getroffen, was mich ehrlich gesagt sehr erleichtert hat. Wie auch immer, wie sieht es aus mit Ihren Verhandlungen mit China? Konnten Sie schon einen Deal aushandeln?

Question 3

back off

to back off means to stop giving pressure to give or do something

“The unions probably won’t back off until we at least compromise on the wage increase a little.”

Answer 3

sich zurückziehen

zurückziehen bedeutet aufhören, Druck zu machen

“Die Gewerkschaften werden sich wahrscheinlich nicht zurückziehen, bis wir zumindest ein wenig Kompromiss bei der Lohnerhöhung eingehen.”

Question 4

be honest

in fact, especially for ideas that are surprising or possibly difficult to hear

“Well Carter, to be honest, I thought your presentation was a little long, and could have been more engaging.”

Answer 4

sei ehrlich

In der Tat, besonders für Ideen, die überraschend oder möglicherweise schwer zu hören sind

“Nun, Carter, um ehrlich zu sein, ich dachte, Ihre Präsentation sei ein wenig lang und hätte einnehmender sein können.”