Our Firm

Our Firm

Negotiation Advice International (NAI) is a boutique advisory firm that significantly improves the performance of our clients in their most important and challenging negotiations. Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts by negotiation expert Peter D. Johnston, our negotiation consulting firm draws on Peter’s breakthrough research, his international bestseller Negotiating with Giants, client work with governments and corporations worldwide, as well as decades of research at Harvard University.

NAI has created billions of dollars in value for our clients over time along with countless agreements and improved relationships. Our negotiation clients include entrepreneurs, government officials, NGO and union leaders, corporate executives, and high net-worth individuals and families. These clients entrust us with some of their most confidential and pressing influence issues, and we’ve earned our reputation accordingly. While we usually maintain a low profile behind-the-scenes, we are often involved in some of the highest profile negotiations and conflicts, quietly providing guidance and advice to best meet the interests of our clients. Over the decades, our team has advised clients ranging from the United Nations, World Bank, and Heads of State, to corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and HSBC, and unions including the 15,000 pilots at American Airlines.

our firm

A Pioneering Negotiation Consulting Firm

Our clients know that we are pioneers in the realm of negotiation, with our results having been formally recognized by the United States Government for their positive economic and social impact. Our firm established the study and practice of “asymmetric negotiation” where one party, against the odds, must deftly contend with the resources and clout of a much larger counterpart. We defined “integrated negotiation” which involves the merging of your negotiation strategy with your operations strategy to attain optimal results; this means that we work closely with our clients to quickly understand their daily activities so that we can advise them on those operational areas where they might make adjustments to further enhance results at the negotiation table. Other unique elements of our approach to negotiation include: a focus on defending yourself and your value as an integral part of your negotiation strategy; an emphasis on negotiating away from the negotiation table, and; systematically drawing on seven distinct “Helpers” to get what you want, consistent with the best practices of history’s most successful negotiators.
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Unparalleled Results Across All Three Phases of Negotiation

Independent findings, and our own client engagements, suggest that even experienced negotiators achieve only 40% to 60% of the total value available to them in most negotiations. That’s a significant opportunity for improvement, and it’s where our expertise can make a big difference, frequently leading to agreements when they would not have been achievable otherwise. 

We support our clients in one or more of the three broad phases of negotiation: preparation, execution, and deal implementation. 

While other parties to your negotiation don’t have to know about our involvement, we can, if helpful, be directly involved at the negotiation table whenever appropriate. 

One way or another, in the corporate and entrepreneurial realms, we generally expect to give you as our client a minimum pay-back of 10 to 25 times our fees.

The majority of our client work involves advising just one party to a negotiation, whether that party is an individual, group or organization. As a leading global negotiation consulting firm, beyond a particular transaction or deal, we also advise clients on how to build their long-term capacity to perform more effectively and consistently in negotiations. Our services range from mentoring negotiators, executing negotiation and relationship audits, and delivering customized negotiation seminars and workshops, to speaking at events, resolving disputes for two or more parties, and buying and selling assets for our clients.

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