Candidate handbook
CCNS candidate handbook
Certified Customer Negotiation Specialist
Everything that applies to the CCNS certification exam: what it covers, how the exam works, how it is scored and where to study.
Blueprint version 1, published on August 25, 2026. Study guide, edition 2026.1.
What the certification attests
For those who negotiate with customers, vendors and internal areas: preparation, influence, running the table and conflict without losing the relationship.
You negotiate with external customers
Sales, accounts, procurement or contracts. You negotiate price, deadline and scope in a repeated cycle with the same counterpart, and lose value for not having set your own floor before going in.
You negotiate inside the house
Project, product, operations or a support area. You need resources, priority or a decision from someone you have no authority over, with no price and no contract, and with the relationship necessarily continuing.
You approve what others negotiate
You set the mandate and the limit of authority and receive the deal finished. You need to know what to ask before authorising, and what separates a well-built agreement from one that is merely closed.
Prerequisite
None. You can take the certification exam directly.
Certification exam format
- Questions
- 50
- Duration
- 60 min
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Languages
- English, Portuguese, Spanish
The pass mark is fixed: you pass with 70% correct answers, with no curve and no comparison with other candidates.
Domains and weights
Questions are drawn for every certification exam, always in this proportion. The weights are the same the exam engine uses.
| Domain | Questions | Weight | Where to study |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Fundamentals of negotiation When a negotiation exists and when a decision is merely being announced: interdependence between parties with different interests. The difference between claiming value and creating value, and why a closed deal is not the same as a good outcome. | 6 | 12% | Guide CCNS, chapter 4, Foundations of negotiation |
2. Preparation and planning The work that settles the table before it: goal, floor, ceiling, the alternative you hold if there is no deal, and the range in which agreement can exist. Trading currency ordered by its value to the other side, not by its cost to you. | 8 | 16% | Guide CCNS, chapter 5, Preparation and planning |
3. Styles and self-knowledge Recognising your own preference before reading the other one, and adjusting pace, level of detail and way of deciding. Behaviour under pressure, which usually differs from the habitual one, and why a label is not a reading of style. | 7 | 14% | Guide CCNS, chapter 6, Styles and self-knowledge |
4. Influence and persuasion The principles that make a request more acceptable and the tactics that rest on them, chosen by target, by moment and by the relationship ahead. The line between influencing and manipulating runs through what each one does with the information. | 8 | 16% | Guide CCNS, chapter 7, Influence and persuasion |
5. Communication, listening and emotion The question that reveals the interest behind the stated position, and the moment when listening stopped and preparing the answer began. Naming the emotion of the other side without agreeing with it, and holding your own reaction when it would cost the outcome. | 7 | 14% | Guide CCNS, chapter 8, Communication, listening and emotion |
6. Running the table What happens during: who opens and why, discovery in layers, an objection handled without immediate defence, a concession always with a declared return. Recognising deadlock and choosing between pausing, changing variable or closing. | 7 | 14% | Guide CCNS, chapter 9, Conducting the table |
7. Conflict, power and relationship The disagreement that argument does not settle: sources of power that never appear on the org chart, the choice between conceding, imposing, avoiding and resolving, and how to recover a relationship after an unfavourable deal. When not closing is the best outcome available. | 7 | 14% | Guide CCNS, chapter 10, Conflict, power and relationship |
Certification exam rules
- Format
- Online certification exam, in your browser, with no scheduling and no exam centre. Questions describe work situations and ask for a decision. Some ask for more than one option, and the screen tells you how many.
- Time
- The clock runs on the server and starts when you open the certification exam. It does not pause: reloading the page, switching devices or closing the browser does not give time back. When time runs out, the exam is submitted with what you have answered.
- Navigation
- You can go back, change answers and flag questions for review. Before you finish, a screen shows what is answered, flagged and blank.
- Scoring
- Your score is compared with the pass mark, with no curve. A blank question counts as wrong, and multiple-answer questions get no partial credit.
- Result
- Immediate, with your score for each domain. It is kept in your account and does not appear on the certificate or the public profile.
- Voucher
- Each voucher is worth one attempt and is used when the certification exam is opened. A voucher bought on the site never expires. Whoever types the code takes the exam, so treat the code like a ticket.
- New attempt
- There is no waiting period and no limit. Each attempt uses a voucher, and questions are drawn again. If you do not pass, you get a 50% coupon for the same certification, valid for 90 days.
- Refund
- Within 14 days of purchase, if the voucher has not been used, through the same payment method.
- Technical problem
- Come back through the same address: the certification exam resumes with the same questions and the answers already saved. If a platform failure compromises your exam, a new attempt is released at no cost.
- Credential
- Issued when you pass, with a public verification code. It never expires and has no renewal or annual fee.
- Revocation
- A credential can be revoked for fraud, disclosure of questions, false identity, misleading use or administrative error. The code remains searchable and shows the revocation.
- Integrity
- The certification exam is individual and closed book, including artificial intelligence assistants. There is no camera, microphone or screen recording. Signals such as time per question and loss of window focus lead to human review, and no signal fails anyone on its own.
- Accessibility
- The certification exam screen works with keyboard and screen reader. Extended time of 25% or 50% is requested at checkout or in the account, in Certification exams, before using the voucher. For another adjustment, write to [email protected].
Where to study
The official guide indicates 35 to 45 hours of study, in paths of 8 or 4 weeks (appendix D of the guide).
Short on time? Study by weight: the domains below are in the order of how much they count in the certification exam.
- Preparation and planning (16%)
- Influence and persuasion (16%)
- Styles and self-knowledge (14%)
- Communication, listening and emotion (14%)
- Running the table (14%)
- Conflict, power and relationship (14%)
- Fundamentals of negotiation (12%)