Is there a deal that beats splitting the difference?
Three parties, three issues, five options on each. Most negotiators trade issue by issue and drift toward the middle option everywhere, which in this model is worth 840 joint points. The optimizer checks all 125 packages and finds one worth 1,150, with every party ahead of that compromise.
In plain words: each side has scored every option out of the points it cares about, and Sortia picks one option per issue so the three scores added together are as high as they can be. That is the package worth putting on the table first.
Words on this sheet
- Points: How much a side values an option, on its own scale. A side spreads its points over the options it prefers, so more points means it wants that option more.
- Pick: A 1 in this column means the option is in the package; a 0 means it is not. Optimization sets these, so leave them at 0 and let the run choose.
- Required picks: How many options from that issue the package must contain: 1 here, because a deal takes exactly one packaging choice, one delivery window and one exclusivity term.
- Joint total: All three sides' points for the chosen package added together. It is the number Optimization pushes as high as it can.
- Exclusivity: A promise to deal only with this partner for a stated time, so nobody else gets the product, the territory or the channel while it runs.
Work Advanced Optimization free
After you install, this is the model to open.
Win-Win Deal Finder
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
The answer
Run the optimizer on the defaults and it lands on bulk pallet packaging, a 7 day delivery window, and a 6 month exclusivity term.
- Best joint package
- 1,150 points, out of a 1,500 ceiling
- Middle-option compromise
- 840 points, 310 left on the table
- Parties better off than the compromise
- 3 of 3 +40, +230 and +40 points
- Packages the optimizer checks
- 125 5 options on each of 3 issues
The optimal package scores 1,150 joint points against 840 for the middle option on every issue, and it is not a trade of winners for losers: the manufacturer goes from 300 to 340, the distributor from 250 to 480, and the retailer from 290 to 330. Chasing your own maximum is a different question. Put floors of 400 on the distributor and 300 on the retailer, switch the objective to the manufacturer's score, and the manufacturer reaches 390 by moving delivery from 7 days to 14, which costs the group only 30 joint points.
The model
The sheet is a point schedule: fifteen rows, one per option, showing what each of the three parties earns if that option lands in the deal. The optimizer flips fifteen binary picks and must choose exactly one option per issue.
| Issues on the table | 3 (packaging, delivery window, exclusivity term) |
| Options per issue | 5 (125 possible packages) |
| Parties scoring the deal | 3 (manufacturer, distributor, retailer) |
| Each party's best possible package | 500 points |
| Decision variables | 15 binary picks, exactly one per issue |
| Objective | Maximize the sum of all three party scores |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
Next question
- Will your walk-away price leave any deal zone at all?Deal Zone Odds (ZOPA Simulator)
- What finish date can you actually commit to?What Finish Date Can I Commit To?
- How much buffer does this plan actually need?How Much Buffer Does This Plan Need?
- Should you certify this payment application?Should I Certify This Payment Application?
- Is the startup equity worth the pay cut?
- Two reps closed the same number. Who ranks first?Rank the Leaderboard, Ties and All
Every model like this one, and the method behind them: Optimization in Google Sheets.