JUMPSTART® — NEXT LEVEL NEGOTIATION
LIVE PORTAL WORKSHEET REFERENCE

STATUS
CURRENT — canonical implementation reference for the live Next Level Negotiation worksheet in the Joel Pilger Portal.

MODULE
Jumpstart® Module 6 — Next Level Negotiation

SOURCE OF TRUTH
- Module PDF = canonical teaching/context for Next-Level Negotiation.
- Live Portal worksheet = canonical implementation flow, prompts, tactic choices, policy-writing fields, and saved toolkit behavior.
- User answers are persistent in the Joel Pilger Portal.
- Jumpstart® Copilot can coach the user through the exercise, but does not automatically have access to saved Portal answers unless those answers are provided in the conversation or exposed through a future Portal connection.

PURPOSE
Help a founder negotiate from greater strength by changing posture, pricing logic, leverage, policies, presentation behavior, and how losses are handled.

The worksheet helps the founder:
- Separate Sales from Creative.
- Move from Inputs toward Outputs and, where appropriate, Value.
- Recognize intangible/emotional value clients may be buying.
- Choose leverage tactics they can actually deploy.
- Write persuasive policies before pressure arrives.
- Keep proposals, creative, and terms cleanly separated.
- Turn losses into opportunities for candid feedback and future work.

LIVE WORKSHEET STRUCTURE
The live worksheet has:
- An opening setup phase.
- Six numbered sections.
- A final toolkit summary / lock phase.

OPENING — BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Heading:
“Before you begin.”

Framing:
“Six sections. Each one shifts more leverage in your direction. Work through them in order — the concepts compound.”

FIELDS

My pricing tiers — from Module 5:
- High label
- Mid label
- Low label

My biggest negotiation friction right now:
“One honest sentence — payment terms, scope creep, saying no…”

PURPOSE
Carry forward the founder’s three-tier pricing language from Module 5 and identify the negotiation issue currently creating the most friction.

LIVE BEHAVIOR
The Portal does not require these opening fields to be completed before the member can begin.

SECTION 1 OF 6 — WHO’S IN THE ROOM?
Heading:
“Who’s in the room?”

Core framing:
When the same person sells the work and makes the work, both suffer.
The worksheet encourages separation between the person holding the commercial frame and the person holding the craft.

FIELDS

Sales is currently handled by:
“Name or role…”

Creative is currently led by:
“Name or role…”

The dynamic I want to build:
“Good cop / bad cop. Executive producer + creative director. Describe it in your own terms…”

One concrete step toward this — this quarter:
“Name the action, not the intention…”

KEY TEACHING
Separate Sales from Creative where possible.

Typical pattern:
- Sales / Executive Producer = “bad cop”
- Creative Director / creative leadership = “good cop”

The objective is not theatrical conflict.
It is role clarity: creative should not have to defend price, terms, or boundaries while simultaneously protecting the creative relationship.

SECTION 2 OF 6 — INPUTS, OUTPUTS, OR VALUE?
Heading:
“Inputs, outputs, or value?”

Core framing:
“To change how much you charge, change how you charge.”

THE THREE LEVELS

TECHNICIAN
Inputs — time and rates

FIXER
Outputs — deliverables, flat-fee

SOLVER
Value — results and performance

FIELDS / CHOICES

Where I am now:
- Technician
- Fixer
- Solver

Where I’m headed:
- Technician
- Fixer
- Solver

EMOTIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS MY CLIENTS ARE BUYING
Select all that apply:

1. PRESTIGE
Awards, glory, recognition

2. PEACE OF MIND
Reputation, dedicated personnel

3. RISK AVOIDANCE
Backup plans, guarantees

4. SELF-ESTEEM
Growth, credit, progress

5. SIMPLICITY
One-stop shop, turn-key

6. PERSONAL GAIN
Promotion, connections, accolades

FINAL FIELD
One thing I’m undercharging for right now:
“The expertise, outcome, or intangible going unpriced…”

HOW TO INTERPRET THIS SECTION
Inputs are typically the weakest pricing frame because the conversation centers on time and rates.
Outputs are stronger because the studio is selling a defined deliverable or solution.
Value is more complex and can be stronger when price is connected credibly to results or performance.

Do not force every situation into value pricing.
The useful move is to recognize whether the founder is pricing the labor, the deliverable, or the result — and whether important expertise or intangible value is being left unpriced.

SECTION 3 OF 6 — EIGHT TACTICS. WHICH ARE YOURS?
Heading:
“Eight tactics. Which are yours?”

Core teaching:
“Your only real leverage is your ability to withhold your expertise.”

The member selects any tactics they intend to deploy.
When a tactic is selected, a note field appears:
“Your application”
“How you’ll deploy this…”

THE EIGHT LIVE TACTICS

1. MINIMUM ENGAGEMENT
Description:
“State your floor early. If they won’t meet it, they’re telling you something.”

Application:
Define the smallest engagement the studio is willing to accept.

2. DISCOUNT THE NEXT PROJECT
Description:
“Call the bluff on ‘all this future work.’ Pay full price now; earn the discount.”

Application:
Do not trade current value for vague promises of future work.
If future work is credible, any concession can be attached to a later engagement after trust/credit is established.

3. BUNDLING
Description:
“Turn multiple needs into one relationship. Think account, not project.”

Application:
Bundle multiple credible needs or collaborations into a broader engagement instead of discounting a single project.

4. PHASED ENGAGEMENT
Description:
“Reduce friction without reducing price. Let them start without committing to everything.”

Application:
Break a larger engagement into phases to reduce commitment risk while preserving appropriate economics.

5. REDEFINE THE DELIVERABLES
Description:
“Prescribe the better solution. You know more than they do — act like it.”

Application:
Change scope or deliverables when the current request is not the right solution or does not fit the available investment.

6. LEVERAGE EXISTING CONTRACTS
Description:
“Ask an attorney. Your client already agreed to better terms with someone else.”

Application:
Use known precedents or previously accepted terms as negotiating evidence when appropriate.

BOUNDARY:
Jumpstart® Copilot must not provide legal advice or interpret contracts as a lawyer.
For legal meaning, enforceability, or contract drafting, direct the user to a qualified attorney.

7. CREATE AN INDUSTRY STANDARD
Description:
“Assert your expertise. If the standard doesn’t exist yet, you can establish it.”

Application:
Use a clear, defensible operating standard to frame recurring boundaries.

Important judgment:
Do not fabricate laws, regulations, or falsely claim that a private preference is a universally recognized industry rule.
A studio may establish its own standard or policy and explain the rationale confidently.

8. AVOID AN IMPENDING CRISIS
Description:
“A deadline is your best ally. As it approaches, their power decreases.”

Application:
Surface unresolved terms early and use real timing consequences to encourage decision-making before the deadline is endangered.

LIVE BEHAVIOR
- Any number of tactics may be selected.
- A tactic can be selected without completing its application note.
- The Portal does not require a minimum number of tactics before continuing.

SECTION 4 OF 6 — WRITE YOUR POLICIES
Heading:
“Write your policies.”

Core line:
“I would love to help with that. However — we have a policy.”

Definition:
“A policy is a rigid external standard that negotiates on your behalf. You don’t say no — you reference the policy. Write yours before you’re in the room.”

LIVE WORKSHEET FORMAT
The Portal provides EIGHT one-line policy fields.

Each field prompt:
“We have a policy that…”

IMPORTANT
The live Portal implementation is intentionally simpler than the legacy Persuasive Policies worksheet.

The live worksheet does NOT require separate fields for:
- Client Needs
- Our Needs
- Rationale
- Who to Blame

Those concepts may still be useful teaching context from the module or legacy worksheet, but the CURRENT live implementation asks the member simply to write up to eight policies.

CONCESSION PRINCIPLE
“You can waive any policy as a one-time exception — that is a concession you choose to grant, not one you were forced into.”

HOW TO COACH POLICIES
A strong policy should be:
- Clear.
- Specific.
- Repeatable.
- Easy for the team to enforce.
- Connected to a recurring business boundary.

Examples of appropriate policy categories may include:
- Minimum engagement
- Payment terms
- Proposal validity
- Creative presentation
- Purchase order / SOW requirements
- Project/source files
- Rights / licensing
- Change orders
- Scheduling / holds
- Cancellation

Do not invent legal language or guarantee enforceability.
If a policy changes contractual rights or legal obligations, recommend professional legal review.

SECTION 5 OF 6 — SEPARATE EVERYTHING
Heading:
“Separate everything.”

Core instruction:
“One-page proposals. No line-item breakdowns. Creative presented live — never emailed as a PDF. Terms sent separately, outside any active project. Clean edges protect your leverage at every stage.”

FIELDS

My proposals currently look like:
“How many pages? Breakdowns? Creative bundled in? Be honest…”

How I will share creative going forward:
“Live presentation, recorded walkthrough, a link — not a PDF…”

My terms & conditions — what I have, what’s missing:
“Do you have a separate T&C document? What needs to be in it?”

CLEAN EDGES PRINCIPLE
Keep distinct:
- The commercial proposal.
- Detailed breakdowns only when truly required.
- The creative presentation.
- Terms & Conditions.

Keep consequential presentations live whenever possible.
Do not hand over the sales or creative conversation to a document when a conversation is needed.

LEGAL BOUNDARY
Jumpstart® Copilot can help the founder identify business issues a Terms & Conditions document may need to address, but must not draft or interpret legal terms as legal advice.
Route legal review to a qualified attorney.

SECTION 6 OF 6 — THE GRACIOUS ASK
Heading:
“The gracious ask.”

Core line:
“Win the client, not the project.”

Teaching:
A lost pitch creates a rare moment when the founder can ask plainly for candid feedback.
A gracious loss can open the door to future work.

FIELDS

A recent loss I haven’t followed up on:
“Client / project…”

Draft your gracious follow-up:
“Thank them. Compliment their choice. Ask for candid feedback. Reference the future. Mean it.”

The two things I’m asking for in return:

1.
“Candid feedback on how to improve…”

2.
“An open door to the next project…”

CORE BEHAVIOR
Be a magnanimous loser.
Do not argue the decision, guilt the client, or attempt to reopen a closed pitch through pressure.

Use the moment to:
- Thank them.
- Respect the decision.
- Ask what would make the studio stronger next time.
- Preserve the relationship.
- Create a credible bridge to the next opportunity.

FINAL PHASE — YOUR TOOLKIT
Heading:
“You’re ready.”

Summary:
“Module 6 — Your Toolkit”

The Portal displays:
- Number of tactics chosen.
- Number of policies written.
- Chips showing which tactics were selected.

Bridge statement:
“You now have the power to take your clients to places they did not know they could go.”

FINAL ACTION
“Lock in your results”

After locking:
“Results locked in”

IMPORTANT LIVE COMPLETION BEHAVIOR
Unlike several earlier Portal worksheets, this live worksheet does NOT enforce field-validation gates before the member advances.

The member can move through sections even if fields are blank.

“Lock in your results”:
- Sets the worksheet’s saved `locked` state to true.
- Does not, in the supplied live implementation, store a separate completion timestamp.
- Does not prevent the member’s saved text fields from existing in state; it changes the final button to a disabled “Results locked in” state.

Therefore:
Do not tell users that the Portal requires a certain number of tactics, policies, or completed fields to finish this worksheet unless the Portal implementation changes.

PERSISTENCE
In the Portal, state is persisted through the Portal bridge.

Persistent worksheet data includes:
- High / Mid / Low pricing tier labels from Module 5
- Biggest current negotiation friction
- Current Sales owner
- Current Creative leader
- Desired Sales/Creative dynamic
- One quarterly action
- Current pricing frame: Technician / Fixer / Solver
- Desired pricing frame
- Selected emotional contributions
- One undercharged expertise/outcome/intangible
- Selected leverage tactics
- Application note for each tactic
- Up to eight persuasive policies
- Current proposal structure reflection
- Future creative-presentation approach
- Terms & Conditions reflection
- Recent loss
- Draft gracious follow-up
- Two asks from the loss
- Current worksheet phase
- Locked / unlocked state

HOW JUMPSTART® COPILOT SHOULD USE THIS WORKSHEET

1. START WITH THE REAL NEGOTIATION FRICTION
Ask what is currently being pushed:
price, terms, scope, rights, timing, payment, files, access, or something else.

2. SEPARATE SALES FROM CREATIVE
Where possible, help the founder create role clarity so the creative relationship is not carrying every commercial conflict.

3. MOVE FROM INPUTS TOWARD OUTPUTS AND VALUE
Ask:
What are they really buying?
Time?
A deliverable?
A solved problem?
A business outcome?
Risk reduction?
Prestige?
Peace of mind?

4. IDENTIFY WHAT IS GOING UNPRICED
Expertise, judgment, speed, reputation, reduced risk, simplicity, and personal/client-side wins may all matter.

5. FIND LEVERAGE BEFORE GIVING UP PRICE
When the client pushes for a concession, explore changes to:
- Scope
- Timing
- Rights
- Terms
- Packaging
- Phasing
- Future commitment
- Deliverables
before automatically reducing price.

6. DO NOT GIVE SOMETHING AWAY FOR NOTHING
Ask:
“What are you giving up, and what are you getting in return?”

A concession should be an exchange, not reflexive surrender.

7. USE PERSUASIVE POLICIES FOR RECURRING BOUNDARIES
If the same negotiation happens repeatedly, help the founder turn it into a clear operating policy.

8. ALLOW ONE-TIME EXCEPTIONS INTENTIONALLY
A waived policy can become a negotiating asset:
“We can make a one-time exception if…”

The return could involve:
- Faster payment
- Reduced scope
- Different rights
- Firmer schedule
- Future commitment
- Another favorable term

9. KEEP CLEAN EDGES
Commercial proposal, creative presentation, and legal/contractual terms serve different purposes.
Do not mash them together simply because it is convenient.

10. KEEP IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS LIVE
Negotiate verbally whenever possible.
Use documents to confirm decisions, not replace leadership.

11. PROTECT THE RELATIONSHIP WHEN YOU LOSE
Help the founder write or rehearse a gracious follow-up that seeks learning and future opportunity without sounding needy or manipulative.

12. STRENGTHEN WALK-AWAY POWER
A full pipeline creates genuine leverage.
Do not manufacture fake scarcity.
Build enough opportunity that the founder can say no when terms stop making sense.

13. SEND THE USER BACK TO THE PORTAL
Do not recreate a replacement worksheet in chat when the live Portal worksheet is available.
Use chat for diagnosis, policy design, negotiation preparation, rehearsal, tradeoff analysis, and application.
Encourage the member to save/refine final work in the Portal.

14. IF THE USER SHARES SAVED ANSWERS
Work directly from the answers they provide.
Do not assume access to saved Portal data that has not been surfaced in the conversation.

USEFUL COACHING QUESTIONS
- What is the client asking you to give up?
- What would you receive in return?
- Is this a one-time negotiation or a recurring boundary that should become a policy?
- Are you selling time, a deliverable, or an outcome?
- What expertise or intangible value are you currently not charging for?
- Which leverage tactic fits this situation?
- Can you change scope before changing price?
- Can you change timing, rights, terms, or commitment before changing price?
- Who should be the commercial “bad cop” here?
- Is Creative being asked to defend a commercial decision?
- What policy would make this negotiation easier next time?
- If you waive the policy, what are you asking for in exchange?
- Are you willing to walk away?
- If you lost this project, how could you still win the client?

KEY DISTINCTIONS

INPUTS
Time and rates.
Technician frame.

OUTPUTS
Deliverables and projects.
Fixer frame.

VALUE
Results and performance.
Solver frame.

LEVERAGE
The ability to withhold expertise or change the terms of exchange.

LIMITATION
A complaint about what you cannot do.

PERSUASIVE POLICY
A clear externalized standard that makes recurring boundaries easier to enforce.

CONCESSION
Something intentionally given in exchange for something else.

CLEAN EDGES
Separating proposal, creative, and terms so each conversation stays in the right frame.

CORE JUMPSTART® NEGOTIATION PRINCIPLE
Negotiation is leadership.
Do not reflexively surrender price or terms.
Understand what is being exchanged, use leverage and policies deliberately, and remain willing to walk away when the deal stops making sense.

END OF REFERENCE
