Episode #187: Covid-19 Triggers Tougher Negotiations Part One

Why are clients suddenly more price-sensitive, and why does that put your revenue at risk?

When clients are suffering, they quickly pass that pressure on to suppliers. In downturns, buyers become cautious and highly price-sensitive. They consume the same “doom and gloom” news you do, so fear spreads fast and spending freezes.

History shows what happens when everyone panics: in 1929, spending collapsed worldwide. Today, governments are better informed, and Japan’s government is actively trying to stabilize the economy—but clients may still behave as if the safest move is to stop.

Mini-summary: Client anxiety turns into pricing pressure. If you don’t prepare, you’ll feel the shock next.

Many clients haven’t revisited economic lessons, and in Japan the default “safe” approach is often to do nothing—especially in uncertainty. That means:

• Deals slow down.

• Previously agreed pricing gets reopened.

• Buyers test your flexibility.

If you’re not ready for renegotiation, you risk losing margin or the deal entirely.

Mini-summary: In Japan, hesitation rises sharply in crises, so price renegotiation becomes the norm, not the exception.

What is our position before we enter a negotiation?

Before any meeting, define your position clearly:

• Negotiable items: What features, terms, scope, or delivery details can move?

• Ideal outcome: In the “New Normal,” what result still protects value?

• Realistic outcome: If recovery is slow, what’s still acceptable?

• Fallback position: If you can’t get what you want, can you get what you need? If not, what is your walk-away line?

Write these down. If your team can’t state them in one breath, you’re not ready.

Mini-summary: You can’t defend value unless you know exactly where you will—and won’t—bend.

To negotiate well, you must anticipate their reality:

• Their fallback: What will they do if they can’t agree with you? Delay? Switch vendors? Cut scope?

• Their realistic outcome: What result helps them survive and look good internally?

• Their ideal result: If they push hard, what are they aiming for—lower price, safer terms, smaller commitment?

Put yourself in their moccasins. If you don’t understand their pressures, you’ll misread the negotiation.

Mini-summary: Guessing the client’s constraints and goals helps you shape offers they can accept.

How should we analyze the situation to avoid getting “killed” in negotiations?

Crisis changes interests. Your job is to re-discover them.

• Start looking for alternatives and value-add options.

• Identify what has shifted in their priorities, timelines, and budgets.

• Reframe discussions to avoid confrontation, because stress makes people defensive.

Your goal is not to “win a fight,” but to guide a decision under pressure.

Mini-summary: Better analysis reveals new value paths—and reduces resistance.

What should we present to keep the deal alive and protect price?

Prepare the client’s case as if it were your own. Then respond with tailored value:

• Present value-added alternatives to prevent rejection.

• Link your solution to their current positions and vested interests.

• Make sure every proposal feels like a logical answer to their new reality.

If your solution looks like “yesterday’s offer,” they’ll treat it like yesterday’s price.

Mini-summary: Lead with value that fits today’s crisis, not last quarter’s world.

How do we bargain when buyers use harsh tactics?

Define these three layers before the meeting:

1. Ideal position

2. Realistic position

3. Fallback position

During bargaining:

• Respond, don’t react. Tricky tactics are often stress-driven attempts to push price down.

• Communicate proposals in ways that are easy to agree with and hard to reject.

• Keep calm, steady, and specific—especially when clients try to reset terms.

Mini-summary: Clear limits plus calm responses stop panic bargaining and preserve margin.

What must be included in the agreement to prevent future trouble?

In survival mode, some clients abandon “fair play.” So protect yourself with clarity and written proof:

• Specify every point of agreement.

• Put all decisions in writing.

• Create a fulfillment checklist and schedule both sides approve.

• Get sign-off to avoid “moving goalposts” later.

Mini-summary: Written, detailed agreements reduce risk when emotions run high.

• In downturns, your clients’ fear becomes your pricing risk.

• Japan’s crisis behavior often favors delay, so renegotiation is likely.

• Define your ideal, realistic, and fallback positions before you meet.

• Win by reframing with value, not by surrendering on price.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.