How an Outside Perspective Strengthens Partnerships and Negotiations

By W. Michael Burke  |  Steady State Advisors Inc

The terms of a negotiation are shaped long before the first proposal is exchanged. They are shaped by how each company defines the opportunity, what it assumes the other party needs, and which options it brings to the discussion.

That preparation is an important place for executive advisory to add value. An experienced outside perspective can help a capable team strengthen its position and examine possibilities that a familiar relationship or established business model may obscure.

At Steady State Advisors, we approach this work as an extension of the client’s thinking. The team retains ownership of the relationship and the decision. Our role is to help make the opportunity and the preparation stronger.

Understand the other side of the table

A company knows what it wants from a partnership. Understanding why the other party would participate requires a different set of questions.

What problem are they trying to solve? Which outcomes matter to the person sponsoring the agreement? What will their finance, operations, and commercial teams need to support it? What alternatives do they have if a deal is not reached?

These are hypotheses to test, not facts to assume. An advisor can help develop the questions, examine plausible incentives, and prepare the team to listen for evidence during discussions. That is particularly valuable when a familiar contact’s priorities differ from those of the people who will approve or operate the agreement.

Experience across pharmacy operations, procurement, and commercial relationships can help connect those perspectives. It should never be used to imply access to another organization’s confidential information.

Expand what the partnership could include

When discussions begin within a familiar transaction, they can stay confined to familiar terms. Leaders may negotiate harder over the same economic levers without considering whether the underlying arrangement could be improved.

An outside advisor can help examine the assets each party already has and the problems those assets could solve together. A wholesaler’s opportunity, for example, may extend across distribution, technology, business support, and other services. A manufacturer and pharmacy may have complementary capabilities around patient access or service delivery.

In a hypothetical wholesaler partnership, the internal team might already have a strong proposal for a technology offering. Advisory work could explore how implementation support and existing customer relationships might improve adoption, or how the offering could contribute to pharmacy retention. The value comes from connecting the existing work to a broader commercial opportunity.

Every additional possibility still needs a practical test. Who will perform the work? How will they be paid? What information can appropriately be shared? What would make the arrangement worth renewing? The strongest concept is one the participants can actually deliver.

Prepare choices before discussing concessions

Negotiation preparation should clarify the desired outcome and the choices available if the other party does not accept the opening proposal.

We help teams examine which terms materially affect value, which assumptions need validation, and where a different structure could address both parties’ concerns. That can include scope, implementation responsibilities, volume commitments, performance measures, payment timing, or a phased launch.

For example, a proposed discount may appear attractive until the team considers the staffing obligation or commitment attached to it. Conversely, a narrowly scoped pilot may create a useful way to test demand before either side accepts a larger obligation.

Preparation becomes stronger when the team has a clear view of its alternatives, approval boundaries, and tradeoffs. A structured rehearsal can expose unanswered questions before they arise in the meeting. Relevant finance, legal, and operating leaders should be involved where their judgment is needed.

Make the contribution visible

The output of advisory work should help the next conversation. It may be an expanded partnership concept, a map of each party’s likely incentives, a comparison of commercial options, or a negotiation brief that identifies priorities and decision boundaries.

It should also make clear what changed because of the outside review. An added option or a better understanding of a material obligation is useful. A new version of the same deck, with no stronger thinking behind it, is not the objective.

Steady State Advisors helps leadership teams bring more perspective to the opportunities they are already pursuing.

If a partnership or important negotiation is ahead, start a conversation at michael@steadystateventures.com.

The final article in this series examines how executive advisory can help turn those opportunities into measurable business growth.