Negotiation Fundamentals — Concessions, Trades and the Walk-AwayTen minutes in, before anyone knows what they need, the buyer asks what discount you can do.
Twenty-two situational-judgement scenarios on commercial negotiation: concession discipline, trading rather than conceding, protecting a walk-away position, and the demand that arrives when the contract is already drafted. Weighted partial credit, three competencies, banded report with a growth plan.
Trades and concessions are scored differently, and the timing matters
A buyer asks for a discount ten minutes into a first conversation; a procurement analyst who has told you he does not approve purchases asks for a price cut; you are about to offer free training if the buyer commits before month end and must choose your wording; your manager asks how you intend to approach the final commercial meeting on a large deal. Twenty-two scenarios, each with four things a seller might do — look at pricing once you both know what they need, give the standard first-order discount now to build goodwill, say discount depends on scope and term, or say you never discount.
Options are scored on a 0–3 gradient with a written reason for every score. The bank distinguishes a trade — something given for something received while terms are still open — from a concession dressed up as one after the contract is drafted, and scores them differently. Options that commit to an outcome the seller cannot deliver, conceal a cost the buyer will meet later, or misrepresent a competing quote score zero regardless of close rate. The bank is original, length-parity controlled and sector-neutral; no branded negotiation method or model is named or implied.
Three competencies come back banded — Concession Discipline, Trading and Exchange, and Walk-Away and Late Demands — because many sellers hold price well in the middle of a deal and give everything away in the last week. The AI-personalised narrative names that pattern where it appears, the growth plan begins with the weakest competency, and the scenario review shows why the goodwill discount scored one, the scope-and-term answer scored three, and the free training offered as a deadline sweetener scored what it did.
What you walk away with
Concession Discipline, Trading and Exchange, and Walk-Away and Late Demands are banded separately, so a seller who holds firm early and collapses at contract stage sees exactly that shape, with a coaching interpretation for each band.
The three competencies on one chart, read together with an AI-personalised narrative that describes your pattern — the early goodwill concession, the trade offered without a return, the late demand accepted to protect the quarter — in plain words.
One 0–100 score with a band for hiring into roles where the seller negotiates terms, so a manager knows before granting authority whether the candidate protects margin under pressure or buys the deal with it.
Steps built from your weakest competency — preparation before the final meeting, the wording that makes a concession a trade, the response to a demand after drafting — then all 22 scenarios explained option by option.
Inside the report
Illustrative sample — your report is generated from your own responses.
Every competency this test declares, scored from the items tagged to it — so the shape is yours, not a template.
One number, one band, and a two-sentence summary of what the band means for you — then the breakdown that explains it.
Built for
- Salespeople who negotiate price, scope and terms with their own customers
- Account managers renegotiating renewals against procurement
- Sales managers deciding how much discount authority to grant a seller
- Founders and consultants who set and defend their own commercial terms
The concession that closed the deal is still being paid for in year three.
Twenty-two scenarios in 33 minutes, three competencies banded, growth plan and full scenario review delivered on completion.
₹349 (incl. GST) · assessment and full report, nothing further to pay
Frequently asked questions
How a salesperson behaves when commercial terms are in play: whether concessions are made with discipline or reflexively, whether something is traded for something or simply given, whether a walk-away position is protected, and how the seller handles a demand that arrives after the contract is drafted. Three competencies across 22 scenarios. It is for sellers who negotiate their own terms, account managers facing procurement, and managers deciding how much discount authority to grant.
No. Saying you never discount scores below explaining that discount depends on scope and term, because the first closes a conversation the second keeps open. Each option is scored on a 0–3 gradient with a written reason. A trade while terms are open and a concession after drafting are scored as the different things they are. Options that promise what cannot be delivered, conceal a later cost or misrepresent a competing quote score zero regardless of close rate.
Thirty-three minutes for 22 scenarios in one sitting. You receive the full report immediately: an overall score with band against a 70 per cent pass mark, a radar and banded bars for the three competencies with coaching interpretations, an AI-personalised narrative of strengths and development areas, a growth plan built from your weakest competency, and a review of every scenario with the reasoning behind each option. There is nothing further to unlock.
Read the Concession Discipline band alongside the seller's realised discount over the last two quarters; where a Developing band meets a high average discount, authority should come with a coaching plan first. For interviews, ask the candidate to describe the last demand a buyer made after the contract was drafted and what they did. A retake after a quarter shows whether the pattern moved.
Yes. The scenarios are sector- and country-neutral, the companies are fictional and the behaviours — asking what a discount is against, trading rather than conceding, holding a walk-away — are the same in any market. No branded negotiation model is referenced, so sellers trained in different schools compete on judgement alone. The assessment is priced in INR and USD; the live price in both is shown on this page.
Foundation, core selling, specialist and sales-leadership bands — every one an original situational-judgement bank with weighted partial credit, a stated reason for every option, and ethics scored to zero on a mis-sell. Hire with the band that matches the role, or develop with the one that matches the gap.
See every sales assessment →Methodology: Original AssessAll situational-judgement item bank for individual-contributor sales roles, authored to the AssessAll Scientific Item-Authoring Standard: behavioural-tendency framing, misconception-anchored distractors, weighted partial-credit keys and option-length parity control. Options that commit to an outcome the seller cannot deliver, conceal a cost the buyer will meet later, or misrepresent a competing quote are keyed zero regardless of their effect on close rate. Scenarios are sector- and country-neutral. Not affiliated with or derived from any third-party negotiation methodology or instrument.