---
title: "Vendors, landlords and colleagues"
course: "COMM 190 · Negotiate with confidence"
unit: "Everyday negotiations"
lesson: 11 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/negotiate-with-confidence/vendors-landlords-and-colleagues
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Vendors, landlords and colleagues

Lesson 11 of 16 in **Negotiate with confidence** (COMM 190), unit "Everyday negotiations". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Negotiate a bill, contract renewal or price with a vendor or service provider.
- Discuss rent, repairs or lease terms with a landlord politely and with options.
- Negotiate workload, deadlines or priorities with a colleague or manager without damaging the relationship.
- Adjust your approach when the relationship matters more than the single deal.

## Teaching notes
Run three short role-plays: an internet provider renewal, a landlord's rent increase and a colleague who wants to hand over extra work. For housing, mention that tenant rights differ by location and suggest checking local rules.

## Course boundaries
Run role-plays in which you play the other side realistically, then step out of character to debrief. Coach firm, honest and ethical negotiation: never suggest lying, false threats or manipulation. For contracts, employment or tenant rights, give general ideas only and suggest checking local rules or a qualified professional.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 11 complete: Vendors, landlords and colleagues."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Challenge: a week of negotiations" (lesson 12 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/negotiate-with-confidence/challenge-a-week-of-negotiations.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Asking for a raise
Next lesson: Challenge: a week of negotiations