Preparing a Negotiation
Evaluates your ability to prepare a negotiation by clarifying your objectives, your fallback option and your walk-away point, anticipating the other party's interests and objections, and planning your arguments, concessions and mandate.
A negotiation preparation test looks at what happens before the first meeting even starts: setting goals, thinking through alternatives, and understanding what the other side really wants. Whether it is a supplier contract renewal, a budget request, a salary review or a first agreement with a foreign distributor, the room for manoeuvre at the table depends heavily on the groundwork done beforehand. Many disappointing deals owe less to a lack of verbal skill than to questions left unanswered before the conversation.
This test shows how candidates organise their preparation depending on the context: plenty of time or a meeting brought forward at the last minute, negotiating alone or as a team, a precise brief or a vague mandate from management. It is aimed at professionals who want to structure their approach, and at recruiters assessing buyers, sales staff or partnership managers.
What this test measures
- How you define your goals, your fallback option and your limit before the meeting.
- How you find out about your counterpart, their constraints and what they are trying to achieve.
- How you anticipate the objections and requests the other side is likely to raise.
- How you think through possible concessions, their sequence and their value to each party.
- How you clarify the mandate given by management and coordinate within a negotiating team.
Examples of situations in the test
- 1In manufacturing, preparing to renew a contract with a key supplier the company relies on heavily.
- 2In IT consulting, preparing a pay discussion while an outside job offer is on the table.
- 3In hospitality, a first meeting with a foreign partner whose organisation and expectations are not well known.
- 4At a young digital company, a meeting brought forward at the last minute leaves only an hour to prepare.
About this test
This test uses situational judgement tests (SJT), true/false questions and prioritisation exercises to assess your real behaviours. Each answer is weighted: there is no obvious "wrong" answer.
How to read your result
High result
A high score points to someone who comes to the table with clear reference points, a good read of their counterpart and room for manoeuvre worked out in advance.
Result to develop
A score to develop indicates that some stages of preparation are still handled intuitively or too late. The report identifies them and suggests a method for building them in earlier.
Roles where this skill is decisive
- Buyer
- Export manager
- Partnerships manager
- Independent consultant
- Head of administration
- Recruitment manager
Who is it for?
Candidates & Professionals
Assess your behavioural skills through realistic scenario-based questions. Get a detailed AI report on your strengths and development areas.
Recruiters & HR
Integrate this test into your selection process to objectively assess your candidates' soft skills.
Frequently asked questions
Why a test devoted solely to preparation?
Because it is the most frequently overlooked stage and one of the easiest to improve. A large part of a negotiation's outcome is decided before the conversation, in how clear the goals are and how well the other side is understood. Isolating this phase brings out specific gaps that tests focused on conducting the exchange would not reveal.
Is this test only for sales staff and buyers?
No. The scenarios also cover less visible negotiations: asking management for a budget, getting help from another department, discussing your pay, setting a consulting rate. Anyone who has to defend interests in front of a counterpart, externally or internally, will find cases close to their day-to-day work.
Should I study negotiation techniques before taking it?
There is no need. The test does not check knowledge of particular jargon or a specific method: it observes the choices you make in concrete situations. Answers are weighted and several look defensible, so it is best to respond as you would actually act. The AI-generated report will then show you where to focus your efforts.
How does the test work?
Once logged in, you have 35 minutes to answer 20 questions drawn at random from a larger bank: situational scenarios, true/false statements and prioritisation exercises where you put steps in order. The test is available in French, English and Arabic, either in free mode or as part of a recruitment campaign.