After completing the diagnostic, you will receive:

1. Your primary control gap
2. A short explanation of what it means
3. Typical exposure patterns linked to that gap
4. The type of commercial control usually required
5. A suggested entry point into The Negotiation Surgery™

The result is not a generic score. It is a directional diagnosis of where your deal control is most exposed.

The diagnostic looks at six structural areas of procurement led deals:

1. Upstream deal shaping. Whether the deal is already being shaped before your team enters the formal process.
2. Procurement decision logic. Whether buyer criteria, models, and internal constraints are visible to your team.
3. Negotiation control. Whether your team can protect structure, authority, and trading discipline at the table.
4. Internal deal discipline. Whether your own organisation leaks margin through unclear ownership, language, or approvals.
5. Response to buyer pressure. Whether procurement pressure causes reactive concessions, timing errors, or internal fragmentation.
6. Post signature execution. Whether value continues to move after contract signature without sufficient tracking or control.

Commercial teams often focus improvement efforts at the negotiation table.

But many deals are already exposed before the formal negotiation starts. Others lose value after signature, when delivery pressure, scope movement, and informal concessions begin to change the economics of the deal.

Typical patterns include:

1. The RFP arrives after the real criteria have already hardened
2. Your value is judged against a buyer model your team never saw
3. Concessions move without a defined commercial return
4. Internal functions respond differently under pressure
5. Buyer pressure compresses time and weakens trading discipline
6. Value keeps moving after signature without being measured

If the control gap is not identified, improvement efforts often target the wrong part of the deal system.

This diagnostic is designed for senior teams responsible for commercial outcomes in procurement led environments.

It is especially relevant for:

1. Commercial leaders
2. Sales leaders
3. Key account leaders
4. Business unit leaders
5. Commercial excellence teams
6. Teams negotiating with professional procurement
7. Teams facing margin pressure before, during, or after formal negotiation

It is most useful when the issue is not one individual deal mistake, but a repeated pattern of control loss.

This diagnostic is not a generic negotiation assessment.

It does not measure personality, communication style, or negotiation confidence.

It does not tell your team to negotiate harder.

It identifies the structural area where your current deal environment is most exposed.

Answer each question based on what is actually visible and controlled in your current deal environment.

Use the following definitions:

Clear and controlled
This is consistently managed and visible.

Partly clear
This exists, but it is inconsistent or situation dependent.

Weak or unknown
This is not visible, not controlled, or not reliably managed.

The more honest the answers, the more useful the result.