Proposal Presentation & Negotiation support is the "Last Mile" of the sales cycle.

After you submit the written proposal, you are often shortlisted for "The Orals"—a face-to-face defense of your solution. This is where the client stops evaluating the paper and starts evaluating the people. They ask: "Do I trust this team to handle my $50M project?"

Simultaneously, the Negotiation phase shifts from "Selling" to "Deal Structuring," requiring a mastery of trade-offs to protect your margin.

Here is the breakdown of the presentation strategy (The "Orals"), the negotiation framework (BATNA/ZOPA), and the preparation drills, followed by the downloadable Word file.

1. The Presentation Strategy: The "Orals"

The goal of the presentation is Chemistry, not Information. The client has already read your proposal. Do not read it back to them.

• The Pyramid Principle (Answer First):
• Wrong: "Here is our history, here is our process, here is our team... therefore we can do the job."
• Right (BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front): "We will reduce your downtime by 20% using our predictive maintenance engine. Here is how."
• Role Assignment:
• The Golden Rule: The person doing the work must do the talking. The Salesperson introduces the team and then shuts up. The Project Manager and Lead Engineer must dominate the airtime to build trust.
• The "No-Read" Rule: Slides are visual backing tracks. If a speaker reads a bullet point, they lose the room.

2. The Negotiation Framework

Consulting support ensures you don't discount out of panic. We use structured frameworks to keep the deal profitable.

• BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement):
• Concept: What do you do if this deal fails? (e.g., "We walk away and focus on another client").
• Strategy: You cannot negotiate strongly if you are desperate. We help you define your "Walk Away" point before you enter the room.
• ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement):
• Concept: The overlap between the Buyer's Max Budget and the Seller's Min Price.
• Goal: Finding this zone quickly without revealing your floor price.
• The "Give-Get" Rule:
• Rule: Never give a concession without asking for something in return.
• Example: "We can lower the price by 5%, IF you agree to pay Net-15 instead of Net-60."

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3. The Preparation Drill: The "Murder Board"

You never practice in front of the client. We run aggressive simulations.

• The Concept: A "Murder Board" is a mock presentation where consultants act as the nastiest, most difficult client stakeholders imaginable.
• The Drill:
• We interrupt the speaker every 30 seconds.
• We ask obscure technical questions ("What happens to the API latency if the database fails?").
• We challenge the price aggressively ("Your competitor is 20% cheaper. Why should we choose you?").
• The Result: When the real presentation happens, the team is calm because they have already survived the worst-case scenario.

4. Key Applications & Tools

Category	Tool	Usage
Presentation	Prezi / PowerPoint	Moving beyond static bullets. Using "Zoom-in" visuals to show the relationship between high-level strategy and low-level details.
Coaching	Gong.io	Recording practice sessions. AI analyzes "Talk-to-Listen" ratios and filler words ("Um," "Uh").
Negotiation	Gap Analysis Log	A live spreadsheet tracking the "Redlines" (Contract changes). It calculates the financial impact of every concession in real-time.