Jan Potgieter is the Founder & CEO of Imperium Negotiation Solutions. Jan is the creator of the Imperium negotiation methodology, which enables the new class of elite business negotiators to confidently and immediately start saving time and money, increasing their earnings, and building mutually rewarding, long-term relationships.

A leading proponent of a best practice approach to negotiations, Jan has proven instrumental in integrating an approach to negotiation that seeks to create a corporate negotiation capability that provides demonstrable competitive differentiation within international client organizations. After gaining a thorough understanding of the client's organizational reality, Jan can bridge the gap between organizational imperatives and the status quo by designing or redesigning a negotiation strategy supported by processes that seamlessly integrate with the client organization's existing sales, purchasing or executive infrastructure to unlock bottom line value immediately.

Jan gained an MBA specializing in Negotiation Skills under the leadership of Professor Manie Spoelstra. A corporate architect, Jan's entrepreneurial spirit was ignited through the market need for a principle-centered, best practice-based negotiation consulting and training approach that creates an enduring organizational negotiation capability.

Jan relentlessly focuses on creating rapid bottom-line results and strengthening client relationships and market reputation. Jan began his career in the financial services industry as a Certified Financial Planner and a Broker Consultant. Excelling in several different roles for leading organizations, he consistently outperformed his growth objectives. He has exhibited a particular flair for gaining a foothold in mature, competitive markets.

The next challenge for Jan was the Information Technology (IT) sector. Starting as a District Sales Manager in a complex enterprise software application environment, he soon graduated to be named General Manager and Public Sector Sales Director for a global systems integrator. As a result of his corporate background, Jan managed to gain extensive experience in both the private and public sector environments.

During his career in the corporate sector, Jan consistently outperformed his growth objectives. His negotiation skills and experience were shaped by the multi-million dollar deals successfully closed and managed on a day-to-day basis. To date, Jan has been involved in negotiating or consulting to commercial deals totaling more than $ 4 billion.

Jan has conducted assignments globally and has lived in Europe, America, and Africa. He is particularly interested in complex M&A and cross-cultural negotiations involving the deployment of teams for optimal value creation and effectiveness. Jan brings a considerable specialization in applying strategic negotiation best practices to the executive domain. In addition to conducting negotiation workshops worldwide (he has delivered assignments in 65 countries to date), Jan regularly consults with leading organizations internationally on negotiation strategies and best practice processes.

Jan has significant experience in high value, cross-industry, and cross-cultural negotiations, which he has gained while on assignment with global organizations such as Vodafone, Telefonica, Pfizer, IBM, Adidas, Macquarie Bank, RBS, Network Rail, TFL, The NHS, Schlumberger, Victrex, Motorola, Nycomed, Altana AG, The Hilton Group and others.

Author of Negotiation: Your Hottest Currency, Jan enjoys frequent invitations to speak at local and global seminars and has lectured at universities and business schools as far away as Poland, Germany, Ireland, and South Korea.

Jan has deployed innovation as a critical driver to the market positioning of Imperium Negotiation Solutions. To obtain different results from competitors, he advocates that organizations must design and deploy innovative and challenging strategies and supporting processes that clearly distinguish them from their competitors. He is passionate about deploying constant innovation in negotiation as a critical differentiator to unlock competitive advantage.

Founder and driver of Imperium's unique methodology, Jan has been formally recognized for his innovative approach to delivering real business benefits. Jan is the proud winner of the World of Learning Award for 'Best Instructor-Led Training in the United Kingdom.