Negotiation Phrases and Vocabulary in Business English
Welcoming and Establishing a Rapport
 It’s my pleasure to welcome you to …
 I would like to welcome you to …
 Is this your first visit to …?
 Did you have a good journey?
Setting the Negotiation Agenda
 I would like now to begin by suggesting
the following agenda.
 To start with, I think we should
establish the overall procedure
 Is this okay with you?
Negotiation Phrases for Making Proposals
 We’d like to propose that …
 We propose / suggest …
 Regarding your proposal, our position
is...
 How do you feel about …
Responding to Suggestions
 Maybe it would be better to …
 Perhaps a better idea would be …
 May we offer an alternative? We
propose that …
 From where we stand, a better solution
might be …
Agreeing – Reacting to a Negotiation
Proposal
 I think we can both agree that…
 I agree with you on that point.
 I think that would be acceptable.
Negotiation Phrases for Objecting
 That’s not exactly how I look at it.
 If you look at it from my point of
view…
 I have some reservations about that…
 From my perspective…
 I’m afraid we couldn’t agree to that…
Giving a Reason in Negotiations
 The reason for that is …
 This is because …
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Prioritising Interests
 The most important issue for us is …
 Our intention is …
 Our main priority is …
 We might like to …
Giving Clarification in Negotiations
 If I understood you correctly …
 Are you suggesting that …
 Do you mean …
 What exactly do you mean by …?
 I’m not sure I fully understand your
point.
 Could you clarify one point for me?
 Could you be more specific?
 Can we summarize your position up to
this point?
 Am I right in thinking that …?
Negotiation Phrases for Compromising
 If you were prepared to …, we might be
able to…
 We are ready to accept your offer;
however, there would be one condition.
 Would you be willing to accept a
compromise?
 In return for this, would you be willing
to …?
Accepting a Negotiation Proposal
 This agreement is acceptable to us.
 I think we have reached an agreement
here.
 That sounds reasonable.
 I think we have a deal.
 I believe we have an agreement.
 I can agree to that.
Negotiation Phrases for Concluding
 Let’s just summarise our agreement?
 I think you’ve covered everything.
 Let’s just confirm the details, then.
 Have I left anything out?