At Scotwork, we talk to a lot of organizations about how to train their people to be better negotiators. We find that most people think of training as a one-and-done activity: a workshop, a seminar, a few hours in a conference room with some PowerPoint slides. They check the box and move on. However, that perception of training is costing organizations more than they think. For negotiation training, it may cost them real results.
The Problem with the “Event” Mentality
Negotiation isn’t a static skill. You don’t simply learn it and retain it, like riding a bike. It’s more like performing surgery, arguing a legal case, or playing a professional sport — it’s dynamic, high stakes, and requires ongoing refinement and support.
That’s why the best surgeons, lawyers, engineers, and athletes never stop developing. They attend conferences, review their performance, and work with coaches and mentors. Their formal training might be behind them, but their learning journey never ends.
So, why would we treat negotiation — something that directly affects revenue, margin, risk, and relationships — as any less worthy of ongoing development?
What If We Built a Performance Culture Around Negotiation?
Imagine if your organization approached negotiation capability the way professionals in other high-performance fields approach theirs:
- Practice the fundamentals regularly: not just once every few years but on an ongoing basis.
- Review deal performance: debrief real negotiations to understand what worked and what could improve.
- Work with coaches: people who can challenge your thinking, sharpen your instincts, and help you evolve.
This isn’t about “more training.” It’s about building a performance culture around negotiation where people don’t just know what they should do; they’re equipped to do it — under pressure, in moments that matter.
Ongoing Support Makes the Difference
Our best programs don’t end when the classroom session does. In fact, that’s often when the most-accelerated development starts — in brief, focused, post-training coaching sessions. Participants work on applying their negotiation skills in real-world settings. It’s no longer theory — it’s their business, their customers, their pressure. And they’re not alone. They have a coach to guide them, challenge them, and help them grow.
A Journey of Capability, Not a Flash of Inspiration
If you’re serious about building negotiation capability, you need more than a workshop. You need a journey designed to elevate you over time, supported by coaching and integrated into your business reality.
The journey should include:
- developmental milestones so you can track growth.
- embedded coaching and feedback to ensure skills are applied and improved.
- a cultural mindset that sees negotiation not as an event, but as a business-critical discipline.
Training might light the spark, but sustained performance comes from what you do beyond the classroom.
The Bottom Line
Negotiation training shouldn’t be treated as a checkbox. The organizations that win don’t just train negotiators. They develop them. They support them. They keep growing them long after the workshop ends.
We Can Help You Get Real, Ongoing Results.
Does your organization have a performance culture around negotiation? If not, you could be losing out on real results. Rely on Scotwork’s 50 years of experience to support you on your journey toward ongoing optimized results.