Negotiation worksheet

Key takeaways

A negotiation worksheet is a private planning form you fill in before you sit down to discuss fees, contracts, or employment terms.

Our free worksheet is two pages of open prompts, running from identifying your goals to reflecting on how the conversation went.

The prompts stay deliberately general, so the same form works for a supplier quote, a pay review, or a fee split.

Terms like BATNA and ZOPA are not printed on the form, but you can write them into the goals, options, and strategy boxes.

Practice management software like Pabau keeps the signed outcome and the numbers behind it on record once the negotiation ends.

Much of a negotiation is settled before anyone sits down. If you know what you want, what the other side needs, and where you can flex, the conversation gets far easier.

This guide walks through what our free negotiation worksheet asks you to think about, prompt by prompt. It works for employment terms, practitioner fee splits, supplier quotes, and service contracts.

The form itself is deliberately plain. It gives you open boxes rather than a rigid theory framework, so you bring your own detail to each one.

What is a negotiation worksheet?

A negotiation worksheet is a structured form you complete privately before a negotiation. It is a planning document rather than a contract, and you never hand it to the other side.

Writing your position down forces you to answer the questions that decide the outcome. What do you actually want? What will you accept? What does the other party need from this deal?

Harvard’s Program on Negotiation recommends working through a preparation worksheet before you sit down. Preparation is the one part of a negotiation you fully control, and it costs nothing but time.

What is inside the worksheet

The worksheet runs to two pages. It opens with a client name and a date, then gives you 11 open prompts to work through in order.

The prompts stay in plain language and skip the jargon. If you want to work with terms like BATNA or ZOPA, write them into the goals, options, and strategy boxes yourself.

How to set your goals and walk-away point

Start with the goals box, then settle your walk-away point before you fill in anything else. Everything further down the sheet depends on those two answers.

1. List your goals. Pay, fee split, payment terms, schedule cover, whatever this deal is about. Three to five is plenty.
2. Rank them. Separate the must-haves from the items you would happily trade away.
3. Work out your alternative. If this deal dies, what do you do instead, and what is that worth to you?
4. Set the floor. Any deal worse than that alternative is a bad deal. Write the number down.

That alternative has a name in negotiation research. It is your BATNA, or best alternative to a negotiated agreement. The worksheet has no BATNA box, so record it under identify goals or develop strategy.

Example: you are setting a fee split with a new associate. Your goals are a split that tracks productivity, room for a slow first quarter, and pay that stays competitive locally. Your alternative is keeping the current staffing arrangement.

Understanding perspectives and gathering information

These two prompts deserve most of your preparation time. Answer them well and you stop guessing at what the other side will accept.

• What pressure is the other party under: cost, capacity, or time?
• What would they settle for if they cannot get their first choice?
• Who else are they talking to, and how quickly do they need an answer?
• What matters most to them: money, security, schedule, or growth?

Ask open questions to fill these boxes in. Two that work well are “what matters most to you here?” and “what does a good outcome look like from your side?”

Then list your evidence under gather information. Market rate data, your current pricing, last year’s invoices, and utilization reports all belong there. Mark the ones you would be willing to show.

Evaluating options and developing your strategy

The options box is where you find room to trade. Write down every settlement that would work for you, not only your preferred one.

For each issue, map the range you can accept against the range you think they can accept. Where the two overlap, a deal exists. Negotiators call that overlap the zone of possible agreement, or ZOPA.

Where there is no overlap, trade across issues instead of digging in. You might accept the single day at home in exchange for the extra vacation days you wanted.

Copy your conclusions into the develop strategy box. Note your opening position, the concessions you are prepared to make, and the order you will make them in.

• Concede on low-priority items first. It builds momentum without costing you anything that matters.
• Trade rather than give. Ask for something in return every time you move.
• Make each concession smaller than the last. It signals that you are close to your floor.

Planning how you will communicate and respond

The next two prompts prepare you for the room itself. The communication plan covers how you will present your case and how you will listen to theirs.

• Who opens the conversation, and with what?
• Which questions do you want answered before you name a number?
• How will you record what is agreed as you go?

Under anticipate responses, list the objections you expect and write one line of reply for each. Rehearsed answers keep you steady when the pushback lands.

Finalizing the agreement and planning follow-up

Fill in the finalize agreement box before anyone leaves the room. Write down the terms, the concessions made on both sides, and the dates involved.

Then read it back out loud. Confirming the wording there and then catches the misunderstandings that would otherwise surface weeks later.

The follow-up plan box turns that agreement into actions. Name who owns each step, when the first review happens, and how you will measure whether the terms are working.

Finish with the reflection box while it is all fresh. What worked, what you would change, and what to carry into the next negotiation.

Adapting the worksheet for employment negotiations

Employment negotiations use the same prompts, with healthcare-specific detail under goals and information. When hiring a medical director or negotiating an employment contract, cover these points:

• Base salary: research market rates for the specialty and the area. Professional association surveys are a good starting point.
• Revenue share or commission: define the calculation, any caps, and the payout schedule up front.
• Benefits: paid time off, health insurance, continuing education budget, memberships, and malpractice tail coverage.
• Schedule: on-call obligations, cover expectations, and flexibility for training or time off.
• Ramp period: for a new hire, decide whether pay scales as they build a client base.
• Termination terms: notice period, any restrictive covenants that are enforceable locally, and what happens to client records.

Healthcare contracts also carry items nobody in the room can move. Licensing, malpractice minimums, and supervision rules are set elsewhere, so note them under anticipate responses.

Who this worksheet is for

The worksheet suits anyone who negotiates on behalf of a practice, or on their own behalf inside one. It assumes no training in negotiation theory, so it works as well in a wellness practice as it does in a therapy practice.

• Practice owners negotiating supplier, equipment, or lease terms
• Practice managers running pay reviews and vendor renewals
• Practitioners negotiating employment terms, fee splits, or room rental
• Anyone preparing for a difficult conversation about money

It also works as a coaching tool. Ask a manager to complete it before a renewal, then review their goals and evidence together beforehand.

Keeping the completed worksheet on record

The sheet has a client name field, so a completed copy can hold identifying details. Treat it as a confidential business document, not a note left on the front desk.

• Store the filled-in sheet where only the people in the negotiation can see it.
• Keep your private planning notes separate from the agreement everyone signs.
• File the final terms and follow-up dates somewhere your team can act on them.

Signed contracts, pay agreements, and supplier terms belong in your practice records rather than in one person’s inbox. That is what makes the follow-up plan enforceable six months later.

How Pabau keeps agreed terms and the numbers behind them

Preparation gets you to an agreement. The harder part is proving, months later, that the terms are still being honored.

Practice management software like Pabau keeps the paperwork with the record it belongs to. Signed forms and documents sit on the client record alongside appointments, invoices, and treatment notes.

The numbers matter just as much. Pabau’s reporting shows what you charged, treated, and paid out, so the next fee conversation starts from your own figures instead of a guess.

That is the difference when a deal depends on volume or revenue share. With the schedule, the invoices, and the reports in one system, checking an agreement takes minutes rather than an afternoon.

Keep your practice records and numbers in one place

Pabau brings client records, scheduling, invoicing, and reporting together, so the figures behind your next fee or contract conversation take minutes to pull.

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Conclusion

The worksheet will not make you a better negotiator on its own. It makes you a prepared one, and preparation is usually what decides how the conversation lands.

Print it, fill it in a day or two ahead, and keep it to yourself in the room. Come back to the reflection box afterward, because that is what makes the next negotiation easier.

Once the terms are agreed, the job becomes record-keeping. Book a demo to see how Pabau keeps client records, invoices, and reporting together for your practice.

Continue your research

Need the numbers behind your position? How to build a business plan for med spa costs and revenue breaks down the equipment, lease, and staffing figures you will be quoting.

Planning the business behind the deal? Medical practice business plan template gives you the financial projections that show what you can afford to agree to.

Setting up a practice from scratch? The ultimate guide to starting a med spa business covers the supplier, staffing, and pricing decisions you negotiate first.

Deciding what to offer a new hire? How to find and hire skilled estheticians for your med spa covers the pay and scheduling terms that come up in an interview.

Running the practice day to day? Medical practice operations guide shows where agreed terms turn into schedules, budgets, and reviews.

Frequently asked questions