Smartsettle is applicable to many formal negotiations. A few specific areas across the spectrum from simple to complex are Property Assessment, Small Claims, Buyer/Seller Price Negotiations, Auction Price, Debt Resolution, Family conflict, Community Planning, Procurement, Collective Bargaining, Mergers & Acquisitions, and International Treaties

Smartsettle uses a comprehensive approach to solving negotiation problems, dealing with all the issues as a complete package. For that purpose, Smartsettle requires parties to first create an Agreement Framework, which is like the final agreement except for blanks representing unresolved issues.

All the unresolved issues are negotiated simultaneously as a single package. Parties reach agreement when they accept the same package.

Instead of talking about each concession and the justifications behind them or criticizing the other party for not making bigger concessions, you can explain your feelings and appeal to objective criteria if that is necessary to help the other party understand where a fair solution might lie.

If an agreement does not occur quickly using the Smartsettle interface, parties may also use a robust chat functionality for free ranging discussion. Parties may also upload any type of file to support their negotiation. If these methods are not adequate there is nothing stopping them from talking on the phone or arranging face-to-face meetings.

Visual Blind Bidding is an optional feature of Smartsettle that virtually eliminates the tedious negotiation dance that characterizes ordinary negotiations. Parties are encouraged to start with visible proposals that communicate what their best outcome for the negotiation would be. Smartsettle then generates Suggestions that fall between the visible proposals exchanged by the parties. Any party may place a hidden acceptance on any Suggestion. The hidden acceptance indicates what that party would be willing to agree to, despite it not being their ideal outcome. An agreement is declared at the end of a session if there is an overlap among accepted packages (or just single values in the case of Smartsettle One). If no deal is reached, parties are free to seek other means to resolve their issues without having revealed any confidential information.

When parties use Visual Blind Bidding, Smartsettle is able to speed up negotiations by rewarding generosity. If there is an overlap of the hidden acceptances then Smartsettle gives most of that overlap to the party who was first to move to a place close to where an agreement could occur.