for Daisy Arabella

LESSONS LEARNED

As we completed the Contract Negotiation Coffee Game, we learned many communication skills and utilized negotiation tactics that will prove to be beneficial in our future careers. Below is a bulleted list of the lessons we learned from our experience in the CN Coffee Game.

· Never accept the first offer; Gather a few offers and then make a buying decision. Our buying team contacted each team selling Harar and Sidamo beans each round for an RFI. We then sorted through all offers, negotiated when necessary, and finally made our decisions. If we simply accepted the first offer, we would not receive the best possible deal or have any information to use as leverage in our negotiations.

· Obtain as much information as possible to make informed decisions. We worked with our customers and suppliers to share and obtain as much information as possible so that we could make as informed buying and selling decisions as possible. We were able to discover and estimate profit margins, expected costs, and potential losses each round.

· Use the logos approach to negotiation. Our team focused on the information, showed our buyers and suppliers the facts, and worked together to make logical deals that benefited both parties. This proved to be a very successful approach that helped us create strong relationships with our buyers and suppliers.

· Know when it’s worth it to negotiate. Our buying team made the mistake of negotiating over 5 cents in round 4 and, as a result, lost the best possible deal because the team chose to sell to another team. Additionally, our Selling Team tried to leverage other contracts at the last minute and lost out on two contracts in Round 1.

· Submit and accept POs well before the due date. We found that when you negotiate first and have time to use leverage, you are able to receive the best deals. The buying team noticed that the longer we waited, the higher the PO cost due to the factorial contract fee that the suppliers would require us to cover.

· Track negotiations round to round. Failure to do so will make writing the CN CSR papers much harder as you will have to scramble through old correspondence and results.

· Study your profit and calculate the fees each round. The fee information is not given outright so you must do this each round. Failure to do so may result in being unable to collect fees or never realizing the fees were there in the first place.

· Develop and maintain personal relationships with customers and suppliers. This will make negotiations easier and the contact with the other party much more efficient.