Business Free course · Certificate included
Negotiation & Client Management
Negotiate with evidence and ethics, price with confidence, control scope and grow client relationships in the AI era
- Intermediate
- 7 h 8 min
- 18 lessons in 6 modules
- 2 h 28 min of video lectures
- Updated Sep 2026
About this course
A practical course for freelancers, agency owners, consultants, account managers and anyone who negotiates with clients or suppliers. You will apply principled negotiation (interests, options and objective criteria), use BATNA, reservation points and ZOPA with confidence, and prepare with a one-page prep sheet and AI role-play rehearsal. You will use evidence on anchoring and concessions, handle hardball tactics ethically (including new AI temptations such as fabricated evidence), and negotiate across cultures and online with careful use of AI translation. You will present prices with value, handle objections, including 'we can do it with AI', and protect cash with payment terms that work across borders. The course then covers scopes and SOWs, change requests, contract clauses including AI use, expectation management, service recovery, parting ways ethically, retention, ethical upselling and compliant referrals and testimonials. Legal content is general information, not legal advice.
Tools you’ll use
- Claude
- ChatGPT
- Notion
- HubSpot
- Calendly
- Zoom
- Google Meet
- Microsoft Teams
- Loom
- Google Sheets
- DocuSign
- Dropbox Sign
- Xero
- QuickBooks
- Looker Studio
Skills
- Negotiation
- BATNA and ZOPA analysis
- Pricing conversations
- Scope management
- Contract basics
- Client relationship management
- Conflict resolution
- Account growth
What you’ll be able to do
- Negotiate on interests using BATNA, reservation points, ZOPA and objective criteria
- Prepare with a one-page prep sheet and rehearse difficult moments, including with AI role-play
- Apply evidence on anchoring and concessions and handle hardball tactics and AI temptations ethically
- Present prices with value, handle objections without unconditional discounts and secure healthy payment terms
- Write clear SOWs, run change requests and negotiate key contract clauses, including AI use
- Manage expectations, recover from service failures and part ways professionally when needed
- Retain and grow accounts ethically with QBRs, honest AI proposals and compliant referrals and testimonials
Curriculum
Syllabus
- Modules
- 6
- Lessons
- 18
- Reading time
- 4 h
- Assessment questions
- 25
Negotiate on interests rather than positions, understand BATNA, reservation points and ZOPA, and prepare systematically with a one-page prep sheet and AI-assisted rehearsal.
- Interests, not positionsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- BATNA, reservation points and ZOPAVideo lecture, 8′Video · 15 min
- Preparing to negotiateVideo lecture, 8′13 min
Use the evidence on anchoring and concessions, respond to hardball tactics and AI-era temptations ethically, and negotiate across cultures and online.
- Anchoring, offers and concessionsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Handling hardball tactics ethicallyVideo lecture, 8′13 min
- Negotiating across cultures and onlineVideo lecture, 8′13 min
Present prices confidently with value, handle objections (including comparisons with AI tools) and discount requests, and protect cash flow through payment terms that work across borders.
- Presenting price with confidence and valueVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Handling price objections and discount requestsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Payment terms and protecting cash flowVideo lecture, 8′12 min
Write clear statements of work, manage change requests (including AI-variant requests) without damaging relationships, and negotiate key contract clauses for service businesses.
- Scoping work and writing a statement of workVideo lecture, 9′14 min
- Change requests and scope creepVideo lecture, 8′13 min
- Contract basics for service businessesVideo lecture, 8′14 min
Set expectations and communication rhythms, handle complaints and difficult conversations with service recovery, and part ways professionally and ethically when needed.
- Managing expectations and communicationVideo lecture, 9′13 min
- Handling complaints, conflict and service recoveryVideo lecture, 9′14 min
- When and how to part ways with a clientVideo lecture, 9′12 min
Keep clients longer with account plans and QBRs, grow accounts ethically (including honest AI proposals), and turn satisfied clients into compliant referrals and testimonials.
- Client retention and account managementVideo lecture, 8′13 min
- Ethical upselling and cross-sellingVideo lecture, 8′13 min
- Referrals, testimonials and long-term relationshipsVideo lecture, 8′12 min
- Final assessment
Your certificate
Finish with a credential anyone can check
Earn the Negotiation & Client Management badge: The holder has demonstrated applied knowledge of principled negotiation, BATNA and ZOPA analysis, preparation with AI role-play, evidence-based anchoring and concession strategy, ethical handling of hardball tactics, cross-cultural and virtual negotiation, value-based pricing conversations, payment terms, scoping and change control, service contract clauses including AI use, expectation management, service recovery and ethical client retention and growth.
Completed all lessons and scored ≥ 80% on the final assessment.
- A public verification page
- A PDF certificate to download
- An Open Badge you can share
- One click to your LinkedIn profile
Final assessment
- 25questions drawn from a larger pool
- 40 mintime limit
- 80%pass mark
- 3attempts per 24 hours
Start learning today. It’s free.
Every lesson is free to read. A free account saves your progress, unlocks the final assessment and issues your certificate.