🤫 BUSINESS ENGLISH SECRETS! | 22 Great Phrases for NEGOTIATING

Hello my wonderful students.

Today, you're going to learn  all the vocabulary that you  

need to negotiate confidently and successfully.

Let's begin negotiations.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started to negotiate.

This is when you have a discussion with  someone in order to reach an agreement.

For example, I negotiated with the  seller for a 10% discount notice.

Grammatically, you negotiate with someone  and you negotiate for something, a discount.

You could also say we negotiated  over the price or on the price.

So here you negotiate on or over something,  the price, the terms of the agreement.

So how about we negotiate right now?

You could say, Jennifer, I'll subscribe  to your channel if you upload more videos.

Good job negotiating with me.

So put, let's negotiate, let's  negotiate, let's negotiate.

Put that in the comments.

Now let's talk about negotiating  the prices of goods and services.

What you most commonly negotiate.

First of all, these items are  usually usually non negotiable.

Items at brand name physical stores like Walmart,  

IKEA, or shopping malls in North  America are usually non negotiable.

Sure, you can try to negotiate,  but don't be surprised if they  

say no or are confused because  you're negotiating at Walmart.

But don't worry because there are many items  that are usually negotiable in North America.

More expensive items like  real estate, cars, furniture,  

jewelry, artwork are almost always negotiable.

Services like home renovations, landscaping  or consulting are usually negotiable.

Or goods and services at independent stores  or non physical stores, for example St.

vendors, booze kiosks or souvenir shops.

Have fun and try to negotiate.

First let's talk about asking  if a price is negotiable.

This is a great place to start.

You can ask is there any room  for negotiation on the price?

Any room for negotiation?

Is the price flexible?

Now for this one, you'll get a yes or no,  but you can ask how flexible is the price?

So you're assuming the answer is yes and  you just want to know to what degree.

How flexible is the price?

This is a good one.

If you want to be less aggressive,  

you could say, do you have any sales  or promotions that I should know about?

So you're letting the person know you're  trying to get a discount or a lower price.

Similarly, you can ask, are  there any discounts available?

One of my favorites is what's  the best price you can give me?

You could also say, what's the  lowest price you could give me?

Then the person knows, oh, you came to negotiate.

Let's say you know a item is negotiable, so  let's review some phrases for negotiating prices.

Whatever phrase you use, my best advice is  always try to provide a reason why you should  

get a discount, why the person should negotiate  with you and make it a win win for both parties.

Then you're more likely to get a yes.

If I buy 2, can you give me 30% off?

Another tip, always ask for more  of a discount than you expect.

So if you would be happy with a 10%  discount, we'll ask for a 30% discount.

Notice the grammar.

Here we have if plus subject plus present simple  

followed by can plus subject plus  base verb to form the question.

Let's say you're buying a car.

You could say if I buy this at full price,  can you give me free maintenance for one year?

Now free maintenance could be worth  more than a 5 or 10% discount.

So that's a great way to make it a win win.

If I pay cash, can you give me 15% off?

In North America, 10 to 15% tax  is added to the sticker price.

The price you see tax is not included.

So negotiating 10 to 15% the amount of  the taxes is a great place to start.

Here's a nice win win if I give  you a great review on TripAdvisor.

Can I get this for $100?

So you let the seller know  what price you want to pay?

Another way to make it a win win  is just compliment the seller.

This is beautiful, but it's out of my budget.

Would you accept $250?

You could also use.

Will you accept Oh?

Pamela, it's beautiful, but it's  it's a little out of my price.

Wood is for possibility and will is for certainty.

With negotiating it is more common to use wood.

Would you accept?

Would you give me?

You can also use would you be willing to, which I  know is a longer structure but it's very common.

Would you be willing to accept $300  if I recommend your store to others?

Pay attention to this sentence structure.

Would subject be willing infinitive.

And then next we have our if  clause if subject present.

Simple.

Now let's review some phrases to say  that something is non negotiable.

Maybe you're the seller and you can  use these phrases or you're the buyer,  

but you need to be prepared when you  hear these phrases from the seller.

Generally, sellers will not be offended  if you try to negotiate unless you try  

to offer them an extremely low  price that is just offensive.

But they'll be friendly and  probably say something like,  

sorry, I'd love to help you, but  our prices are non negotiable.

Our prices aren't negotiable.

Notice there are two different phrases to  be not negotiable or to be non negotiable.

They mean the exact same thing  and both are very common.

Here's a very natural one.

I wish I could help you, but my hands are tied.

This is an idiom.

Sorry buddy, I wish I could help you.

My hands are tied.

My hands are tied.

This means I'm unable to act or  decide because of external forces.

So if the seller says this  to you, my hands are tied,  

then most likely the seller doesn't have  the authority to give you a lower price.

They just work at the shop.

They don't set the prices,  they just sell you the item.

Someone else controls the prices.

My hands are tied.

This is a very useful one.

How about this one?

Sorry, I don't have any wiggle room.

Wiggle room on the price.

That's fun to say wiggle room.

I don't have any wiggle room on the price.

Wiggle room represents the  ability to change or flexibility.

So if you don't have any wiggle room,  it means you don't have any flexibility.

So it's another way of saying my hands are tied.

I'm unable to do anything about the prices.

The seller might say our prices  are already the lowest they can go.

This is the seller's way of trying to  reassure you that you're getting a good  

price and at the same time saying  they're not willing to negotiate.

So it's a powerful phrase.

The seller might say if I could, I would.

If I could give you a discount,  I would give you a discount.

If I could, I would.

Now implied in this is but I can't.

But most likely they won't say that.

If I could give you a  discount, I would, but I can't.

That's implied.

It doesn't have to be said,  but that's what this means.

So you tried to negotiate.

The seller said no.

So let's talk about some phrases for you.

When you want to stand your ground, to stand one's  ground, this is when you maintain your position,  

your beliefs or your opinion,  especially when you're opposed.

So if you stand your ground, it  means I said I want a 10% discount.

I'm not willing to buy this  without a 10% discount.

That is you standing your ground.

And often this is required to  be a successful negotiator.

Although it can be quite uncomfortable,  you can say to the seller, I understand,  

I understand your hands are tied.

I understand you don't have any wiggle room.

Whatever the seller just said I understand,  but that price isn't in my budget.

That price is out of my budget.

So you can use to be within one's budget and then  

just make it negative or you can  use to be out of one's budget.

They have the same meaning and if you stand  

your ground it is possible that the  seller will offer you the discount.

They just wanted to know how serious you were.

You could also say in that case  I'll have to pass in that case.

The case being that you don't  have any wiggle room or your  

hands are tied again, whatever the seller said.

In that case, I'll have to  pass when you use have to.

It sounds like a forced obligation and pass  means you're not going to buy the item.

I'll pass.

I'll pass.

I'll have to pass.

I'll have to pass.

Unfortunately, I can't move  forward at the current price.

So move forward is to complete the next  step which would be to purchase the item.

But you can't.

Unfortunately I can't move  forward at the current price.

Please contact me if the price changes.

This is another way you can open it U and try to  encourage the seller to keep negotiating with you.

It's too bad.

It's too bad we couldn't come to an agreement.

However, I appreciate your time.

So it's too bad this is something negative.

I appreciate your time.

That's positive.

So we use however to connect the two opposing  ideas, the negative and the positive.

However, I appreciate your time.

Have a great day.

As a note, make sure you end your negotiations  on a positive note by saying something nice.

I appreciate your time.

Have a great day, because you never  know know when the seller's opinion  

or position may change and if you're polite,  they'll be more likely to negotiate with you.

You could say I'm sorry we couldn't work this  out, Sorry we couldn't work something out.

When you work something out, it means  you find a solution to a problem.

The problem being what I want to pay  is less than what you want to receive.

I'm sorry we couldn't work this  out and then add thanks anyway  

to be more polite and end on a positive note.

So Are you ready to get out  there and start negotiating?

Put let's negotiate, let's  negotiate in the comments.

And of course, make sure you like this video,  

share it with your friends and subscribe so  you're notified every time I post a lesson.

And you can get this free speaking  guide where I share 6 tips on how  

to speak English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And I have another lesson where you'll learn  professional phrases that you need to know.

So watch it right now.