Thinking etiquette in business negotiation. Business etiquette is a very important environmental link for the workplace, so we have many different ways to deal with it. So for business negotiation etiquette, let's take a look at the following related introductions.
The key to business negotiation etiquette 1 is who should you talk to first, then, finally? Get the right people involved at the right time, and the door to success may open to you. Otherwise, it may fail. The order of negotiation is very important, although it is often ignored. Whether you want to choose the right person to participate in charity activities, invest in a new business, or sign a complicated business, you will always face a difficult sequence arrangement. Who should you communicate with first? And communicate with people? Rules of thumb such as "allies first" or "negotiation from the inside out" are not irrefutable programs of action. A more effective method, that is, the reasoning method of reverse planning, can often help you choose your partners wisely and negotiate with them one by one in the right order.
Internet TV-the product of reverse thinking
When StevePerlman set out to launch Internet TV, he was faced with a difficult ranking of life and death. He obtained the seed fund, developed the technology of connecting ordinary TV with network, developed the prototype, and hired the core technology and management members.
But at this time, Paalmann's cash flow is in jeopardy, and it has to deal with a large number of potential business partners, including venture capitalists, "angel" investors (private capital investors) and industry partners (as potential sources of funds); Consumer electronics companies, Internet service providers (ISP) and content providers (possible allies and partners); Set-top box manufacturer; Licensee outside the United States; And wholesale and retail distributors.
Seeing that his promising career is in trouble, it seems that Paalmann should withdraw funds from venture capital companies in the next negotiation. However, Paalmann knew that at that time, although venture capitalists might be willing to invest a small amount of money in his new company, they were quite cautious about investing a large amount of money in consumer electronics products such as Internet TV.
Therefore, Paalmann embarks from his venture capital goal, carries out reverse planning, and deduces that if he can form a partnership with the leaders of the consumer electronics industry, the attraction and value of Internet TV to venture capitalists will be greatly enhanced. He first chose to sell his products to Sony, and Sony rejected him at first. However, he immediately negotiated successfully with Philips and used the signed contract to further reach a supplementary agreement with Sony.
With Sony and Philips joining, Paalmann can now sit down and discuss venture capital-of course, the price has soared. With this huge sum of money in hand, it is easy for Paalmann to sort things out and sign agreements with manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, content providers, ISPs and foreign allies and partners one by one-even selling his young but booming enterprise to Microsoft for $425 million.
Follow five steps
When you plan the negotiation steps in reverse, you should first expect the expected results, and then think about how to achieve this situation in turn. The following are five steps of reverse planning:
1. Draw a "map" indicating the actual or potential participants, their interests and their choices when the negotiations break down;
2. Estimate the difficulty and cost of reaching an agreement with all parties, and the value of involving all parties;
3. Determine the interests of all parties: who has influence on whom, who may obey whom, who is grateful to whom, and so on.
4. Concentrate a lot of energy on the hardest bone-your negotiating opponent or other people who have the power of life and death. Ask yourself: which of these people should reach an agreement first, so as to maximize the negotiation opponents' approval of your terms? Who do you want to choose to start the negotiation first?
5. Before closing the door, ask yourself a similar question: Which ideal person is most likely to make the toughest opponent nod at this stage? How to win this side over?
Plan backwards like this until you break through the hazy mist of hope and find the brightest way to success.
In order to better understand the reasoning of reverse planning, we can refer to the project management system. When deciding how to implement a complex project, you will focus on the end point first, and then backward to the present, forming a set of key routes and schedules. An agreement reached by a lasting alliance, which constantly brings value, is equivalent to a successfully completed project.
Grasp four keys
Once you use reverse planning, you will find yourself facing several problems: how to identify key people? Should the negotiations be held in secret or in public? Should we break them one by one or say them together? How to deal with the' means' used by opponents in the sequence? Here are some suggestions for you:
Study the patterns of influence and obedience. Those who expect to establish a negotiating alliance will soon realize that nine times out of ten, they will not meet the most difficult-perhaps the most critical-opponent at the beginning. In order to improve the odds, try to determine who can influence the target and who the target will obey. In an article in The New Yorker magazine (1993), SidneyBlumenthal described how Bill Daley, then President Bill Clinton's chief adviser on getting Congress to approve NAFTA, ensured the affirmative vote: "It is said that there was a tendency to agree at that time. You must order someone who can order that person to order that person.
If the owner tries to sell his company, his advice is not to start formal negotiations with the CEO of the potential acquirer too early. Instead, he should study who the CEO will ask for advice during the acquisition. Obviously, his CFO is crucial. If we continue the reverse research, we will find that an analyst in the finance department is highly respected by CFO, and there is no doubt that he will be assigned to evaluate this slightly different transaction. From this, it is concluded that key analysts must get the funds to approve the transaction. When the tense negotiations with the CEO finally started, the paving work had stopped. The CEO asked CFO, CFO turned to key analyst, and the analyst made our career from the inside.
Bypass and win over potential opponents. The arrangement of sequence can not only lay the foundation for the final transaction, but also be used to outflank and win the consent of potential opponents. Let's take a look at how PercyBarnevik promoted the merger of Asea and BrownBoveri (the predecessor of global engineering giant ABB in Sweden and Switzerland). In an interview with HarvardBusinessReview, he said, "We have no choice but to act quickly behind our backs. No lawyers, no auditors, no environmental research, no hard work. Of course, we try our best to evaluate assets accurately. But ... we believe in its strategic value ... why keep it a secret? Think about Sweden. Pearl, her industrial pearl, a century-old brand that has created most of the infrastructure in the country, is moving its headquarters out of Sweden ... Remember our press conference in Stockholm on August 10. The news was completely unexpected ... followed by shock and fait accompli. Then ... we must win the support of shareholders, the public, the government and the European Union one by one. "
Banivik first held small-scale secret consultations with high-level officials of both sides, and then negotiated with other parties. In this way, he created an irreversible process for his ideal transaction. This high-risk ranking aims to avoid frictions such as the European Union or the Swedish government blocking transactions. If he had sought the consent of the European Union from the beginning, and then negotiated with the government and shareholders in turn, things would have run aground and ABB would have ceased to exist.
Flexible control of information disclosure. Careful sequence selection is helpful to flexibly control the disclosure or publicity of sensitive information. For a construction developer, if he is worried that his intention will be depressed after it is made public, then the order of his land acquisition depends on the success rate of various ways. Other factors include the positional relationship between the purchased plots and the remaining plots. Can developers use the purchased land to launch some development ideas about the project without waiting for the next acquisition? The answer to the question may change the order of the steps. If an investor wants to buy a series of stocks quietly in order to realize the acquisition, or wants to seize the opportunity in the bankruptcy acquisition negotiation with complex debt structure, similar considerations apply to the order arrangement.
Beware of opponents who play tricks in sequence. Be careful: the other party may also lead you astray and enter the wrong order. Most parents can quickly understand the family version of this opening game: in order to get dad's consent, the child will claim that "mom says it can be done" and then jump in front of her and say that dad has given the green light.
Some children will play this old trick at work when they grow up. For example, when a private equity firm negotiates with a large investment group, investors informally promise to inject capital, provided that another investor with a reputation for shrewdness agrees to invest. Knowing this dependence, companies with lax ethics may try to negotiate with both parties separately, taking the so-called consent of Party A as the reason for completing the negotiations with Party B-and vice versa. I suggest that no matter who assures you that the other side of the negotiation has promised something, you must verify it clearly-the other side may also have the wrong impression of "you promised".
If the negotiation sequence is very important in establishing negotiation alliance, controlling sensitive information and dealing with potential competitors, then reverse planning will help guide your direction.
Thinking etiquette in business negotiation II. The principle of knowing yourself and yourself.
"Know yourself and know yourself" means to know the etiquette, negotiation style and negotiation experience of the negotiating opponent through various methods. Don't violate each other's taboos. A "confidant" is a person who knows his own strengths and weaknesses, the information and data he needs to prepare, the purpose he wants to achieve, and where his retreat is.
Second, the principle of mutual benefit.
When preparing for business negotiations and during the negotiation process, business people should try their best to think of their opponents and take the initiative to reserve certain interests for their opponents without harming their own interests.
Third, the principle of equal consultation.
Negotiation is a contest of wisdom. At the negotiating table, only hard facts, accurate data, strict logic and artistic means can lead the negotiations to the desired victory. Persuade people with reason, not domineering, is the principle that negotiations must follow.
Fourth, the principle of separation of characters
At the negotiation meeting, negotiators must treat people and things differently when dealing with their opponents. Remember that friends belong to friends and negotiations belong to negotiations, and the boundaries between the two cannot be confused. ：
Five, the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences
In business negotiations, if all aspects of negotiations are fruitful and everyone wins, we must adhere to the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences, that is, we should pay attention to forgiving each other in various etiquette details, and once unpleasant things happen, tolerance is appropriate.
Six, the principle of politeness to the opponent
Politeness to the opponent means that the negotiator should eliminate all interference in the whole process of the negotiation meeting and consistently show sincere respect to the opponent at any time, anywhere and anything.