International Negotiation Advisory | Schranner Consulting

Schranner Consulting is the worldwide leader in consulting for difficult negotiations. We support your negotiations – with more than 40 experts in Zurich, New York and Hongkong.

„Matthias Schranner is one of the best negotiators in the world“ — Forbes

What we do

We provide clarity and stability in crucial moments to help you through your difficult negotiations. We set up a crisis plan and analyze power positions. We investigate internal and external relationships to design a negotiation process tailored to your situation. We prepare all decision makers involved and implement negotiation strategies within your company. With our expertise, you will save time and get the negotiation results you need.

Our consultants immediately prepare the "initial strike", such as setting up a crisis plan and stabilizing the negotiation process to avoid impairing regular business operations.

The first phase of the negotiation is critical. We support boards, managing directors and top politicians through this demanding initial phase to avoid any mistakes that could restrict options throughout the negotiation.

Our faculty is composed of some of the world’s foremost negotiators; we have an expert for every situation.

Our expertise allows us to recognize and pre-empt risks during the negotiation. We proactively shape the negotiation process to circumvent issues before they arise.

In our experience, companies design their operations for conflict-free business. When crises and difficult negotiations arise, companies are often unprepared for the upcoming confrontation.

The analysis of internal responsibilities and the involvement of top managers are the first internal steps to plan the negotiation. This allows your company to avoid “friendly fire” caused by the interference of unbriefed executives.

The analysis of the opposing side is usually carried out with haste and lack of detail. We thoroughly investigate your negotiation partner – professionally and free from any emotional attachment.

The objectives are discussed and defined with the decision-makers. This allows your company to have clear goals which are in line with your corporate values.

A negotiation process is shaped by power dynamics and relationships. We analyze existing strategies and consolidate them into a reliable and stable negotiation process, taking individuals' needs and concerns into account. We design multiple sets of strategies to remain flexible and to maintain the upper hand at all times.

We divide the negotiation process into individual phases and design a guideline for each phase.

These guidelines provide safety and stability, even when the negotiation is in its most difficult phase.

The negotiating team will be selected depending on the needs associated with the upcoming conflict. We model our actions on crisis procedures developed by the FBI.

Anyone who carries responsibilities in the negotiation process will receive an individualized “Negotiation Playbook” which contains clear and concrete instructions.

We prepare the negotiating team with simulations before each negotiation and give them tactical training. We secure the negotiation process internally to avoid friendly fire, and externally, to control the visibility of the process with appropriate PR measures.

With the “Negotiation Playbook”, all participants know their roles and can perform their assigned tasks without any time loss. This methodology assures a consistent implementation and a high degree of protection for the negotiating team. Furthermore, the “Negotiation Playbook” clearly defines internal and external messages for everyone involved.

The insights gained during the negotiation are analyzed, evaluated, and summarized in a debriefing. This allows the development of negotiation best practices for your company, which will serve as a blueprint for managing future conflicts.

Negotiation Consulting

7 Reasons

1Unique expertise – acquired through successful resolution of the most difficult negotiations.
2A faculty of leading experts – no theorists; all of them are professionals in their fields.
3Our strategies and tactics have proven successful and will be refined with the specificities of your case in mind: operations, reputation management, finances and government regulations.
4We have a wide range of know-how: business, politics, military, FBI.
5We work globally, with headquarters in Zurich and offices in New York City and Hong Kong.
6We work with all industries that face difficult negotiations.
7We are fast and available 24/7, worldwide.

Industries

Automotive & Assembly

The increasing focus on single sourcing is creating new levels of dependency. The cooperation between OEM and Tier 1 suppliers is optimized and often stable. However, issues often arise from "Tier 2" suppliers.

Chemicals

Competition from Asian countries, especially China and South Korea, is a known risk – it can be assessed and accounted for. The real risk lies with Asian corporations who not only copy European or American patents, but who also register them as their own.

Consultancy

This business area is coming under increasing pressure in terms of comparability and prices. E-biddings, e-auctions, and hard price negotiations are on the rise. Many consultanting firms are unable to negotiate a price for their competencies.

Energy

Uncertainties created by an unstable political environment and the development of new technologies often result in avoidance strategies. However, especially in this sector long-term investments and long-term contracts are needed.

Financial Services

Extremely high regulatory compliance requirements and complex internal coordination procedures make it difficult to establish effective negotiation processes in this industry.

Media & Entertainment

While the effects of digitalization on this industry are known, the increasingly aggressive negotiation style is challenging for a business that used to be based on relationships.

Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

A wide variety of different and non-transparent national guidelines turn negotiations in this sector into a gamble with many unknown variables. Governments often lack professional negotiation approaches to implement policies in the health sector.

Private Equity & Principal Investors

The fickle nature of the financial environment often leads to faltering negotiations because people deal with uncertainties by adopting an intuitive approach to negotiations.

Public Services

More tasks for fewer employees often result in tight schedules although negotiations would actually need more time. The need for quick settlements often creates inadequate results.

Retail

Dwindling margins in a competitive market create hardball negotiations, which often lead to an unsatisfactory outcome for both sides.

IT & Telecommunications

All sectors are affected by digitalization. Telecommunications, however, has been changed radically. Only after some fundamental decisions are made can new negotiation approaches be implemented in this industry.

Travel, Transport & Logistics

Legal requirements, volatile markets and soaring cost pressure require new negotiation strategies. The current approaches to price negotiations are no longer working.