How We Actually Help You Negotiate Better
Budget conversations don't have to feel like pulling teeth. Over the past eight years working with businesses across Vietnam, we've learned that most companies struggle not because they lack resources, but because they're having the wrong conversations at the wrong time with the wrong data.
What Guides Our Work
These aren't just nice words we put on our website. They're the principles we return to when things get complicated—and in budget negotiations, things always get complicated.
Honesty Over Optimism
We won't tell you a negotiation will be easy when it won't. Some budget gaps can't be closed—and that's valuable information too.
Last October, we advised a manufacturing client to walk away from expansion funding that looked good on paper. Their operational capacity couldn't support it yet. Six months later, they came back with better numbers and actually got approved.
Context Matters More Than Templates
What worked for a tech startup won't work for a retail chain. We spend time understanding your specific situation before suggesting anything.
Two clients in February 2025 needed similar funding amounts. One was seasonal, one wasn't. We built completely different negotiation approaches because their cash flow patterns told different stories.
Your Team Knows Things We Don't
The best budget strategies come from collaboration. You understand your business operations. We understand negotiation mechanics. Together, we figure out what actually works.
A logistics company's warehouse manager noticed a pattern in their quarterly expenses that our initial analysis missed. That observation changed our entire negotiation strategy and saved them three months of back-and-forth.
Relationships Outlast Transactions
Budget negotiations affect relationships with banks, investors, and internal stakeholders. We focus on approaches that strengthen these connections rather than burn bridges.
When a retail client couldn't meet their initial ask in March 2025, we restructured to a phased approach. Their bank appreciated the transparency and actually increased their credit line by August.
Why This Approach Works
Budget negotiations fail when people focus only on numbers. But numbers without context are just digits on a spreadsheet. We've found that the most successful negotiations happen when everyone involved understands not just what the numbers are, but what they mean for the business's actual operations and future plans.
Questions People Actually Ask Us
These come up in almost every initial conversation. If you're wondering about something else, just reach out.
How long does a typical budget negotiation take?
Depends entirely on complexity. Simple internal department budgets might take 2-3 weeks. External funding negotiations with multiple stakeholders can stretch to 8-12 weeks.
We've learned that rushing usually backfires. Missing one crucial detail can add months of rework.
What information do you need from us?
Financial statements from the past 2-3 years, current budget proposals, and details about what's driving the negotiation. But honestly, the informal stuff matters too—why this timing, what internal politics exist, what past attempts have failed.
The more context we have, the better we can help.
Do you handle the actual negotiations?
Sometimes, but not always. Often we prepare your team to handle it themselves—that can be more effective since you have the existing relationships.
When negotiations get technical or contentious, we step in directly. It depends on what serves your interests best.
What if the negotiation fails?
Then we figure out why and what to do next. Sometimes "no" means "not yet." Sometimes it means the ask genuinely doesn't make sense.
We've had clients come back six months later with adjusted proposals that succeeded because we understood why the first attempt didn't work.
Quick Wins That Actually Help
Start with the End Conversation
Before diving into numbers, get clear on what success looks like for everyone involved. If you're negotiating with a bank, understand their approval criteria. With internal stakeholders, know their constraints. This saves weeks of misaligned work.
Document Your Assumptions
Revenue projections, cost estimates, growth rates—write down what you're assuming and why. When negotiations stall, it's usually because people are working from different assumptions without realizing it.
Build in Flexibility Points
Know ahead of time where you can compromise and where you can't. Having three scenarios ready—ideal, acceptable, and minimum viable—gives you room to negotiate without backing yourself into corners.
Track Decision Triggers
What specific data or milestones would change minds? If someone says "I need to see better margins," get specific about what margin percentage would work. Vague feedback creates endless loops.
How We Actually Work Together
This isn't a rigid system. Real negotiations are messy and we adapt. But this gives you a sense of the general flow when working with us.
Understanding Phase
We spend 1-2 weeks getting into the details. What's the business situation? Who are the stakeholders? What's been tried before? What constraints exist? This isn't just reviewing financial documents—we're learning how your business actually operates and what pressures you're under.
Strategy Development
Based on what we've learned, we map out possible approaches. Usually we identify 2-3 viable paths with different risk profiles and timelines. We walk through the tradeoffs together and pick the approach that fits your situation and comfort level.
Preparation and Practice
We build the materials you'll need—financial models, presentation decks, response frameworks. If you're handling negotiations directly, we run through practice scenarios. This isn't about memorizing scripts, but getting comfortable with the logic and being ready for common objections.
Active Negotiation Support
During actual negotiations, we're available for quick consultations between meetings, helping interpret feedback, and adjusting strategy as new information comes up. Negotiations rarely go exactly as planned—being able to adapt quickly matters more than having a perfect initial plan.
Documentation and Follow-Through
Once agreements are reached, we help document terms clearly and set up tracking systems for any conditions or milestones. Vague agreements lead to problems later. We make sure everyone's working from the same understanding of what was decided.
People Who Make This Work
Budget negotiations need both financial expertise and people skills. Our team brings both, plus years of learning what actually works in Vietnam's business environment.
Minh Truong
Spent twelve years in corporate finance before joining us in 2022. Minh has a particular talent for finding budget solutions that satisfy both conservative financial teams and ambitious operational leaders. He's handled negotiations ranging from small department budgets to multi-year capital expenditure plans.
Duc Pham
Background in stakeholder management and organizational psychology. Duc joined our team in early 2024 and specializes in complex multi-party negotiations where the technical financial details are only part of the challenge. He's particularly good at navigating situations where different departments have competing priorities.