Selected Client Testimonials

At the beginning of my tenure as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York I observed that the relationship between the Diocese and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine had evolved over many years into a difficult one....The conflict was complex and important and those involved were stuck. The situation called for a commitment to change, deep expertise in facilitation, and a proven process. The members of the Diocese and the Cathedral supplied the commitment and CMI Concord Group provided us with the necessary expertise in process. This was not the first time I had worked with CMI Concord to unlock an intractable situation. With their patient guidance and understanding of the human dynamics involved as well as help using numerous process tools, we stayed focused, collaborative, and productive over the numerous sessions that finally assisted us toward mutual understanding and a way back to organizational health.

– The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk, as Bishop of New York

As a forward looking company, Johnson & Johnson wants to  create a corporate culture and language in negotiation. A corporate  approach to negotiation allows us to integrate all of our people,  regardless of their function or location, into our decision process. It  also provides a sustainable competitive advantage, consistency in our  communications to payors and providers, and credibility for the company.  And, of course, it improves the day-to-day outcome of our decision  making. After experience applying CMI Concord's advanced training, our  professionals throughout the EU tell us: 'This was among the best things  I ever learned in Johnson & Johnson,'It becomes a way of living,',  'Concord's Seven Elements is the only sensible approach when you foster  long term relationships with governments.'

– Peter Lauper, as former World Wide Vice President

CMI Concord was instrumental in helping us re-negotiate  provisions around the highly complex restructuring of the Western  Canadian grain logistics. Concord coordinated the discussions involving  the growers, the railroads, the marketing companies and the government  in a way that allowed all voices to be heard and in a way that allowed  for a creative resolution of our issues. I can think of no better  process that the one-text procedure CMI Concord used to generate  consensus in that highly complex and emotionally charged atmosphere.

– Gord Cummings, as Chief Executive Officer

 I have worked with CMI Concord on too many negotiations  with good results to remember them all. There are, of course, the many  merger conversations that prospered because of your guidance. Also, some  of my most important and difficult internal management decisions first  were identified and framed by you as negotiations and then developed  skillfully through execution by the three of us together. However, your  most important contributions to me are more far-reaching and systemic  than any given transaction.

Essentially, you have forever changed the way I think about  negotiation. First, you helped transform my personal preferences and  intuition into a system that enabled me to think about negotiation  process in an explicit and orderly fashion. Along the way, you helped me  realize that among the greatest advantages one can obtain in  negotiation is a thorough and sympathetic understanding of the other  parties' interests. More than that, you gave me the tools to cultivate  my understanding of interests in every important negotiation I handle.

Your tools, skills and advice continue to guide my actions.  Moreover, I have found that by instructing my own management team and  directors in the same tools and skills, our company has been  increasingly successful both in its internal as well as its external  negotiations, be they mergers with other companies or internal  management and governance debates.

 – Ray McCaskey, as Chief Executive Officer, Health Care Service Corporation (d/b/a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas)

In the complex environment of healthcare delivery, CMI Concord  has been an invaluable asset in helping us address a number of  difficult internal and external situations. Whether dealing with  adversarial payor negotiations or handling problematic intra or  interdepartmental conflicts, CMI Concord's process has helped us think  systematically about resolving our differences. Your partner has been a  key member of our team and one of my most trusted colleagues and  advisors. 

 – David DeMaso, M.D., as Psychiatrist-in-Chief

The best companies, and Johnson & Johnson is certainly one  of those, commit to the development of their staff and as such invest  many millions in training courses. I have been privileged to attend very  many such courses.

Some courses give you perhaps one memory or takeaway point, but  in 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry two courses stand apart as  having made a permanent and telling change to my overall behaviour and  performance. Both these courses were on negotiating and run by CMI  Concord. On the courses themselves, there are so many great  paradigms and tools to use both in preparation for and during a face to  face negotiation you will probably want to hear the information again  and again and to get it into practice straight away, at work and at  home.

It is hard to assess the sterling £ value or return which any  course can give you, but I will say that without the new skills I  acquired, at least three top accounts with sales in access of £1m would  have slipped through my hands and at least one top supplier to us would  have gone elsewhere.

The CMI Concord partners are highly intelligent, articulate  people who have a compelling set of messages to convey. Being great  executors of their own art, they are, in their own right, top  negotiators.

– Stephen Bourne, as Commercial Manager