The move that
changed everything.
A real negotiation. Premier League boardroom. The other side: one of football's biggest characters.
A few years ago I walked into a Premier League boardroom for one of the most important negotiations of my career.
Across the table was a senior figure with a serious reputation. The kind of presence that fills a room before he opens his mouth. One of the biggest characters in football.
I'm an introvert. I was, quietly, terrified.
Everything I knew about negotiation said I should sit down, smile, lay out my position, defend my numbers, and absorb whatever came back at me.
I did the opposite.
I stood up. I walked over to his side of the table. I looked down at him.
And I said:
"There is a better way for you."
Not for me. For him.
Then we explored it. Together.
We both won that day. He got terms that worked for his club. I got the deal I'd come for. And the part I didn't expect — I won his respect.
That moment is when I understood something I'd been missing my whole career.
The loudest negotiator doesn't win. The most aware one does.
The one who reads the room. The one who notices what the other side actually wants — which is almost never what they're asking for. The one who names a better path and lets the other side keep their dignity.
That person walks out with what they came for.
For years I thought my introversion was the weakness I had to compensate for. It wasn't. While the other side performed, I prepared. While they pushed, I read. They walked away feeling great about the deal. I walked away with what I wanted.
NegotiatePro is the system I built from negotiations exactly like that one.
Six steps. Read. Map. Frame. Anchor. Trade. Close. The AI runs them with you, on your specific deal, in your specific words.
For your salary review. Your supplier renewal. Your hard conversation Tuesday morning.
You don't need to become a different person to win the negotiation.
You just need a system.
Joel Davis · Founder, NegotiatePro · 4× Deloitte Fast 50 · FT 1000 · Founder-led exit