Negotiating in English: strategies and phrases that work

Why is language a source of power when negotiating in English?

Language is negotiating power because in English negotiations tone, not vocabulary, usually tips the balance. Be too direct and you squander goodwill; take British understatement literally and you miss information. A German Das ist zu teuer is a neutral statement of fact, whereas an English That’s too expensive can be heard as a signal to walk away.

A look at the figures shows how much German business is negotiated in English. According to the Federal Statistical Office (in German), the United States was Germany’s second most important trading partner in 2025, with foreign trade of €240.5 billion, and exports to the US amounted to €146.2 billion. On top of that come countless negotiations with partners in Asia, Scandinavia or Eastern Europe, where English is the shared working language.

My observation from many years of teaching buyers, sales staff and managing directors is that most of them have enough specialist vocabulary. What is missing is pragmatic competence: a feel for how a sentence lands with the other side. Depending on who you are talking to, “That’s too expensive” can sound like the end of the conversation rather than an opening move.

That is why I don’t believe in learning negotiation English as a vocabulary list. You need a repertoire of phrases that mark your position while protecting the relationship. That is the aim of the negotiation training in our Business English courses, developed by the methodology team I lead.

Preparing a negotiation in English: BATNA, goals and key sentences

The best phrase is useless without preparation. A key idea comes from Harvard negotiation research: the BATNA, the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School describes it as your best option if no agreement is reached. Knowing your BATNA tells you when you can say no.

Your preparation on one page

Prepare your key sentences in advance

I recommend preparing three sentences word for word: your opening position, your most important concession and your polite refusal. Under stress, even very good speakers fall back on their first language, and that is when literal translations creep in. Prepared sentences are your safety net. Our article on giving presentations in English shows how to present your offer convincingly beforehand.

Opening negotiations in English: relationship and framework

In English-language negotiations, the conversation almost never starts straight away with numbers. A short getting-to-know-you phase is not seen as a waste of time but as part of the negotiation itself. If you skip it, you come across as impatient. Suitable openers are in our article on small talk in English.

Questions about interests are worth more than any argument. If you know why the other side wants something, you can find trade-offs that don’t appear on any price list.

Making offers and counter-offers in English

In English, phrase offers and counter-offers as conditional sentences that link every concession to something in return: If you could increase the volume, we could offer a better price. Test options with Would you consider …? and mark your limits with That’s as far as we can go on price. That keeps the door open.

My rule of thumb: never without “if”

Never make a concession without attaching a condition. That protects your room for manoeuvre and, in English, also sounds cooperative. A bare “OK, we can give you 5%” invites the other side to ask for more straight away. “If you can confirm the order this week, we could go to 5%” links your concession to a gain for you.

A short sample dialogue

Supplier: We could offer you a unit price of 14.80 euros.

Buyer: Thank you. To be honest, that’s a little higher than we’d budgeted for. Would there be any flexibility if we increased the order to 5,000 units?

Supplier: At 5,000 units, we could go down to 14.20, provided that payment is made within 30 days.

Buyer: That sounds reasonable. If you could also guarantee delivery by the end of June, I think we could move forward.

Notice that neither side says “No”, yet both mark their limits clearly. Every concession is tied to a condition: volume for price, payment terms for discount, delivery date for closing the deal.

How do you say no diplomatically in English?

A blunt “No” is rare in British and many international business settings. Refusals are cushioned without losing clarity. The art lies in being soft in tone but firm on substance. These phrases let you decline clearly while keeping the relationship intact, and a few more help you buy time instead of giving in under pressure.

• I’m afraid that would be difficult for us. A clear refusal, politely packaged.
• I’m not sure we can agree to that as it stands. Signals that the current version is not acceptable.
• I see where you’re coming from, but … Acknowledges the other view before disagreeing.
• That’s not something we’re in a position to offer. A firm no, without sounding personal.
• Let me be frank with you. Announces plain speaking; use it sparingly.

Buy time instead of giving in

Under pressure, many people tend to agree too quickly, just to resolve the situation. Keep sentences ready that allow a pause: “I’ll need to check that with my team.”, “Can we come back to that point later?” or “Let me just make a note of that.” A brief silence in a negotiation is not a sign of weakness.

Cultural differences when negotiating in English

In my view, this is where the real bottleneck lies. Negotiators from German-speaking countries are seen internationally as well prepared, factual and reliable. Yet the same strengths come across as weaknesses when carried unfiltered into English: being factual seems cool, directness seems rude and thoroughness seems inflexible. Knowing typical British and American patterns helps.

What is said and what may be meant

Tables like this are simplifications, and people are not stereotypes. But they help you ask a question at the decisive moment instead of drawing the wrong conclusion: “When you say minor points, could you tell me which ones are most important to you?” I cover the topic in more detail in our article on intercultural communication at work.

American partners

With US partners I often experience the opposite: a very positive, enthusiastic tone that does not automatically mean agreement. “This sounds great” is often just polite encouragement. Rely on what is confirmed in writing.

Closing a negotiation in English: securing the agreement

You secure an agreement in English by summarising it orally (Let me summarise what we’ve agreed.) and confirming it in writing (We’ll send you a written summary by tomorrow.). In British business, subject to contract signals that arrangements only become binding with the contract. Many deals fail afterwards, because each side understood something different.

• So, just to make sure we’re on the same page, … Checks shared understanding.
• Let me summarise what we’ve agreed. Pulls the results together.
• I think we’ve got a deal. Signals agreement.
• We’ll send you a written summary by tomorrow. Commits to written confirmation.
• This is, of course, subject to contract. Makes clear that the contract has the final word.

The phrase subject to contract is especially common in British business and signals that verbal agreements only become binding with the contract. Whether it is legally sufficient in a particular case is something to check with your legal department. For the follow-up email you will find building blocks in our guide to writing emails in English, and if you chair follow-up meetings, our article on leading meetings in English will help.

Training your negotiation English: common mistakes and what really helps

Typical mistakes in negotiation English are overly direct sentences such as You must give us a discount instead of Would there be any flexibility on price?, and literal translations such as the German speaker’s We become 3% discount? In our experience, what helps most is training in realistic simulations with anonymised cases from your own work, reviewed afterwards.

Role plays with real cases

I am convinced that negotiation English only grows through realistic simulations. That is why we work with anonymised cases from participants’ working lives: price talks with suppliers, contract renewals, complaints. Every round is reviewed, both linguistically and strategically. I have described how this kind of progress can be measured in two articles for Pearson: GSE and ROI in Business English and language data and business value. Also relevant here is something we often see in our courses: clear differences between job functions such as sales, customer service and HR. One-size-fits-all training therefore falls short. Our sample ROI calculation for Business English shows how targeted training can be assessed in business terms.

For companies, we offer negotiation training for purchasing and sales teams under language courses for companies, in small groups of ideally four people or one-to-one. If you first want to know where your team stands, start with a language audit. You will find all formats and content in the overview of our Business English training. And because good negotiations are often prepared on the phone, our guide to telephoning in English is also worth a look.

Sources

1. destatis.de: PD26 056 51
2. pon.harvard.edu: translate your batna to the current deal
3. ef.de: germany
4. pearson.com: gse roi business english measurable advantage 11 25
5. pearson.com: gse roi pt 2 language data and business value 12 25

Frequently asked questions

Łukasz Pakuła

Head of Studies at choices®. Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, lecturer at HM Business School Munich and Kempten University of Applied Sciences. Doctoral studies in applied linguistics, publications with Springer and Equinox, among others. More about us