Use deal sheets to reinforce your power

29 September 2016  |  Admin

DEALMAKING FOR CORPORATE GROWTH

A deal sheet – a summary of deal discussions – is a valuable tool that provides a dealmaker not just with an ongoing record of the discussions (which is important in itself) but also with the space to stop, pause, and take stock of the progress of the deal journey. That space can be particularly useful when tempers and egos start rising.

A deal sheet is useful in terms of calibrating where the discussion is at, while also providing both sides with the ability to tweak and reframe their proposals as and when needed. Used the right way, deal sheets keep focus on the main issues at hand and confirm areas of agreement to date as well as outstanding action items.

They are especially useful where there are many complex, yet unrelated, issues at play. Using a deal sheet to record the progress of each separate issue is a convenient way to keep track and also to ensure that you are focusing on the right issue. By compiling a deal sheet you can see how you are doing in relation to the deal as a whole – presenting all issues in a single deal sheet enables you to see in one place the overall value of your deal, which will reinforce your power-base.

Extracted from DEALMAKING FOR CORPORATE GROWTH: THE 7 P APPROACH TO SUCCESSFUL DEAL EXECUTION by Simon Haigh, #54 in the NuBooks series.