Both sides of the negotiation should fully realize that the negotiation should be mutually beneficial and a process of seeking common interests based on the needs of both sides (or parties). In this process, each side is eager to meet its own direct and indirect needs, but at the same time, it must take into account the needs of the other side, because only in this way can the negotiations finally succeed. Mutual benefit in negotiation means that both sides should first make clear their own needs, then explore each other's needs, and then work with each other to find conditions and feasible methods to meet the needs of both sides; Satisfying one's own needs and predicting the other's needs should become the center of the whole negotiation, treating the other party as a problem solver, being gentle to the other party, sticking to principles, putting facts and reasoning, changing from a mutually antagonistic situation to a coordinated one, reaching an agreement and coordinating interpersonal relationships efficiently.
First of all, do a good job in preparing for business negotiations.
The situation at the negotiating table is unpredictable, and negotiators must be prepared if they want to influence the situation in the negotiations. Only in this way can we improvise in the negotiations, deal with all kinds of unexpected problems flexibly, and avoid the intensification of conflicts of interest in the negotiations.
1. Know yourself and know yourself, and never fight an unprepared war.
In the process of negotiation preparation, negotiators should conduct a comprehensive analysis of their own situation and try to fully understand the situation of their negotiating opponents. Self-analysis is mainly through the feasibility study of the proposed negotiations. Understanding the opponent's situation mainly includes the opponent's strength, credit status, policies and regulations of the country (region) where the opponent is located, business customs, local conditions and customs, negotiators of the negotiating opponent, etc. Before negotiation, we should fully investigate and understand each other's situation, analyze our own strengths and weaknesses, and analyze which issues are negotiable and which are not; It is also necessary to analyze what issues are important to each other and how important this business is to each other. At the same time, we should analyze our own situation. Suppose we have to negotiate with the purchasing manager of a big company. First of all, we should ask ourselves the following questions:-What are the main issues to be discussed? -What are the untouchable and sensitive issues? -What should we talk about first? -What do we know about each other? -What changes have taken place in the other party since the last business? If we are talking about renewing orders, what lessons should we remember from doing business with each other before? What are the advantages of the company competing with us for this order? Can we improve our work? -What issues might the other party object to? Where can we make concessions? What do we want each other to do? -What will the other party want? What will their negotiation strategy be? Make a list of questions, and all the questions you want to ask should be thought out in advance.
2. Choose high-quality negotiators
To some extent, business negotiation is a contest of negotiators' strength. The effectiveness of negotiation often depends on the knowledge, ability and psychological quality of negotiators. A qualified business negotiator should not only have rich knowledge and skilled skills, but also be confident, decisive and adventurous. Only in this way can he face setbacks and failures. However, business negotiation is often a confrontation between groups. Depending on the rich knowledge and skillful skills of the negotiators themselves, a happy ending may not be achieved. Appropriate people should be selected to form a negotiating team. Members' respective knowledge structures should be complementary, so as to skillfully solve various professional problems, help improve negotiation efficiency and reduce the pressure on the main negotiators to some extent.
3. Set the limits of concessions
The problem often encountered in business negotiations is the price problem, which is also the focus of interest conflict in negotiations. Before the negotiation, both sides should determine the bottom line of concession, beyond which the negotiation is impossible. The determination of concession boundary must be reasonable and scientific, based on investigation and actual situation. If the quota is set too high or too low, it will lead to conflicts in the negotiations and eventually lead to the failure of the negotiations.
4. Develop negotiation strategies.
Different negotiations have their own characteristics, so it is necessary to formulate negotiation strategies and tactics. In some cases, the negotiator who gives in first may be considered to be in a weak position, which leads to the other side exerting pressure to get more concessions; However, the same move may be seen as a sign of cooperation. In business negotiation, the adoption of cooperative strategy can make the negotiation successful, enable both parties to establish a harmonious business relationship in the transaction, and ultimately benefit all parties. But pure cooperation is also unrealistic. When the other side seeks the best interests, it will adopt some competitive strategies. Therefore, adopting the strategy of combining cooperation and competition in the negotiations will promote the smooth conclusion of the negotiations. This requires us to make all kinds of strategic plans before the negotiations, so as to improvise. Both sides should plan in advance what concessions they can make when necessary, how to make them and when to make them. Before negotiating, you should consider several alternative competitive strategies. When the other party thinks that your desire for cooperation is weak or the other party is unreasonable and aggressive, you can make additional concessions by changing the negotiation strategy.
Second, the appropriate use of business negotiation strategy
The direct purpose of negotiation is to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to all parties. In the negotiation, the two sides have both antagonistic relations and important cooperative relations to maximize their own interests. In the negotiation, we should properly use negotiation strategies to avoid conflicts of interest and bring the negotiation to a deadlock.
1, combining rigidity with flexibility
In negotiations, negotiators should not be too tough or too weak. The former is easy to stab the other side and lead to the breakdown of the relationship between the two sides, while the latter is easy to be controlled by others. The strategy of "combining rigidity with softness" is more effective. In the negotiation, some people play the role of "red face" and take a tough stance, while others play the role of "white face" and take a moderate attitude. The "red face" can mercilessly stab the sensitive parts of the other party, and blushing will not yield. The "white face" has a kind attitude and gentle language, leaving room everywhere. Once a deadlock occurs, it is easy to recover from it.
Step 2 postpone action
In business negotiations, we can adopt the strategy of delaying the war, pretending to be a snake and dealing with aggressive opponents. Through several rounds of tug-of-war, arrogant negotiators feel tired and bored, gradually lose momentum, and then turn from defense to attack when their opponents are exhausted, thus turning their negotiating position from passive to reverse.
Step 3 leave room
In the negotiation, if you are asked by the opposite party, even if you can meet all the requirements, you don't have to give an immediate reply. Instead, you should agree to most of the requirements first, leaving room for bargaining.
Step 4 retreat for progress
Let the other person speak first and make all the requirements clear. After listening patiently, we will seize the flaw and then launch an attack to force it to submit. Sometimes you can make concessions on local issues first in exchange for concessions on major issues.
5, interests and lure it
According to the situation of the negotiating opponent, give him what he likes, give him small favors, and urge him to make concessions or finally reach an agreement.
6. Mutual understanding
In the negotiation, it is forbidden to make too many demands, ask exorbitant prices or bargain at will, which makes the negotiation full of gunpowder and hostility. The two sides of the negotiation should take care of each other and understand each other, so that the negotiation can proceed smoothly and achieve a satisfactory result.
7. miss a good opportunity
If the two sides can't reach a satisfactory result, there is no need to talk too fast when the negotiations are facing breakdown, which will hurt the harmony between the two sides and lay a chance for the success of the next negotiation.
Third, master the essentials of business negotiation.
In the negotiation, a small problem that is not handled properly may lead to the failure of the negotiation and bring losses to both sides. Therefore, those who master negotiations should understand that getting twice the result with half the effort:
1. Master the essentials of listening. If importers and exporters want to succeed, they must master negotiation skills. In fact, trade negotiation is a kind of dialogue. The two sides explain their own situation, state their views, listen to each other's suggestions, make quotations, make counter-suggestions, make concessions to each other, and finally reach an agreement. If you master negotiation skills, you can take the initiative in the dialogue and get satisfactory results. We should master the following important skills: the biggest weakness of inexperienced negotiators is their inability to listen patiently to each other's opinions. They think that their task is to say their own situation, say what they want to say, and refute each other's objections. So in the process of negotiation, they always think about what to say in their minds and don't pay attention to each other's speeches, so a lot of valuable information is lost. They mistakenly believe that good negotiators have the initiative in negotiations because they talk too much. In fact, successful negotiators will spend more than 50% of their time listening in the negotiation. They listen, think and analyze, and constantly ask questions to each other to ensure that they understand each other completely and correctly. They listened carefully to everything the other party said, not just what they thought was important or wanted to hear, so they got a lot of valuable information and increased their bargaining chips. Effective listening can help us understand the needs of importers, find new ways to solve problems, and modify our quotation or counter-offer.
Listening can not only dig out the truth, but also explore each other's motives. If you master each other's motives, you can adjust your coping strategies. When listening, carefully analyze the intentions and opinions implied in the other person's words, and what confusion he wants to give you; For ambiguous language, we should record it and ask each other carefully; When listening, you should consider asking the other person's language expression, including angle, intensity, brightness and so on.
2. Master the essentials of expression. During the negotiation, you should explain your implementation plan, methods, positions and other views to the other party, express them clearly and let the other party understand; Don't say things that have little to do with the subject; The content should be consistent with the information; Figures should be expressed accurately, and words such as "probably, possibly, possibly" cannot be used.
3. The essentials of asking questions. In negotiation, asking questions can lead the other side to think, attract the other side's attention and control the direction of negotiation. If you can't hear clearly or ambiguously, you can ask the other party to explain again by rhetorical question; When listening to each other's inner thoughts, you can use guiding questions to attract them to think about your language; Selective questioning can trap the other person and force him to make a choice. In the negotiation, we should try our best to encourage each other to talk more. We should say "yes" and "please go on" to each other, and ask them to answer questions, so that they can talk more about themselves and get to know each other as much as possible. In short, the choice of questioning methods should be suitable for the atmosphere of negotiation.
4. The elements of persuasion. Persuade the other party to change their original ideas or plans and be willing to accept their own opinions and suggestions. Explain to each other the advantages and disadvantages of accepting your own opinions; To explain to each other the necessity and common interests of cooperation between the two sides, persuasion means respect and friendship; The benefits gained by all parties after the opinions are adopted; It is necessary to emphasize the consistency of the positions of both sides and the benefits of both sides after cooperation, and give each other encouragement and confidence.
Business negotiation is a special communication activity full of challenges, which requires negotiators to recognize the truth, set goals, grasp the essentials, use all negotiation means flexibly, and safeguard and strive for their own interests in a complex and changeable negotiation environment.
Fourth, avoid ambiguity caused by cross-border cultural exchanges. Most business negotiations are conducted in English. We should try our best to use simple, clear and definite English. Don't say anything that offends the other party, such as language with distrust. "To tell you the truth" "I'll tell you the truth ..." "I'll try my best." "It's none of my business, but …". In order to avoid misunderstanding, we can use interpretation to ensure smooth communication. For example, "If you can modify your specifications, we can accept the price." We can say, "If I understand you correctly, what you really mean is that if we improve the product according to your requirements, you agree to accept our price." Finally, another way to ensure smooth communication is to make a summary before the end of the negotiation, repeat the agreements reached so far, and ask the other party for approval. Be prepared before the negotiation. Many business negotiations fail due to lack of negotiation skills. By cultivating the ability of listening and asking questions and mastering the above skills, importers and exporters can take the initiative in negotiations and obtain satisfactory results. Business negotiation has always played a very important role in the business activities of enterprises. It can be said that business or transaction and negotiation are twin brothers. Where there is a transaction, there is a negotiation, and where there is a negotiation, there must be a transaction. The two are inseparable. Strategies in business negotiations Enterprises will encounter two main problems in business negotiations:
First, the conditions of the other party in the negotiation are too high to meet their own requirements and cannot be accepted. How can we unify the two at this time? Professor Ding believes that there are strategic issues in business negotiations. It is necessary to carefully analyze the negotiation plan, find out the reasons and make timely adjustments. If it is the other party's reason, such as intentional fraud, we must find ways to change the other party's attitude. If it is due to our own reasons, such as our conditions are really inappropriate, we should make timely adjustments and report to the superior leaders in time to gain the understanding and support of the leaders and ensure the smooth progress of the negotiations. For example, Professor Ding said that in a transaction, foreign investors (a) decided that we needed his products, so their attitude was quite arrogant. After consultation, his conditions were refused to be lowered. So we adjusted the negotiations and began to ignore him. Then we gradually withdrew negotiators and key personnel, creating some illusions and making him think that we were not prepared to cooperate with him. A few days later, A lost his temper and started looking for us, but we ignored him as usual and repeated it several times. When A came to see us again, we said to him, What do you want to talk about? We are very busy and have no time. If you have new ideas, we can consider them. If it is still the original opinion, it is out of the question. In this way, our desire for success is diluted to the point that it doesn't matter whether we talk to you or not, which makes A change his attitude. The transaction was restarted on a new basis, and after several rounds of negotiations, the transaction was finally successful. This is the strategy of playing hard to get. In this process, we have always maintained a calm attitude.
Two, negotiators in the negotiation plan is inconsistent with the plan of the superior leadership. How to deal with it? In this case, Ding Jianzhong's attitude is, first of all, to express all his views and prove them with actions. For example, all the plans we make are predictive, and if the prediction is unrealistic, we must strive to become a reality; Second, we should have a correct attitude, respect leaders, be non-antagonistic, cooperate with understanding, and prove our views with practice; Third, under the premise of "first and second", strengthen communication with leaders and get the time given by leaders to operate, so it is easier to communicate with leaders with facts.
Business negotiation is full of variables, and the skills of negotiators can be reflected in the negotiation. A good negotiator should not only master skills and negotiation rules, but also know his opponent, give full play to his strengths and overcome his shortcomings, among which, it is more important to have a good character. The higher the negotiator's personality, the better the negotiation effect, the more wealth he creates for the country and the greater his contribution to the country. Ding Jianzhong believes that this is what negotiators should have most.