The negotiation link in international business is very important. What qualities must our negotiators possess? The following are the qualities I have collected for international business negotiators. Welcome to read them for your reference and reference!
First, the characteristics of international business negotiations
(a) the origin of the negotiations. ? Negotiation? Does this word come from its verb? Negotiation? This word is derived from the Latin word negotiation (meaning? Doing business or trading? ) come. The verb itself comes from another meaning? Refuse? Verbs and meanings of. Leisure? The noun of. So, before the deal was reached, did the Roman merchants? Won't have time to enjoy leisure? Said.
(2) The definition of negotiation. Negotiation is a communication process for all parties to solve contradictions, with the purpose of making all parties reach an agreement, solve a problem or make some arrangements. Negotiation is the basic way to gain benefits. Negotiation is a mutual conversation when all parties have the same interests and conflicting interests.
(C) the characteristics of international business negotiations
International business negotiation is a comprehensive and applied subject, which has both the characteristics of general business negotiation and its own particularity. The uniqueness of general business negotiation lies in that the purpose of negotiation is to obtain the greatest economic benefits, and the core of negotiation is price. International business negotiation is characterized by strong policy, wide scope and complicated negotiation factors.
1. Strong policies
International business negotiation is a transnational economic activity, and economic interests are the central interests of all countries, so negotiations are inevitably influenced by political and foreign policies. Therefore, international business negotiators must understand international and domestic events, foreign trade policies, laws and national policies, and update them at any time.
2. Wide range
There are a wide range of personnel: not only leaders, business people and technicians, but also lawyers who translate and understand international law. The negotiation covers a wide range: international trade, international finance, international commercial law, insurance, transportation, enterprise management, international marketing, etc., and requires international business personnel to have strong professional knowledge.
3. The negotiation factors are complicated
Every international business negotiation involves at least two countries, and some involve several countries or even a dozen countries. Which country did the author join in the 1990s? Eight-five? More than 20 companies from 12 countries participated in the key project of 300,000 tons of ethylene in Jilin. Different countries have different political backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, educational backgrounds, religious beliefs, customs and habits, and different values, life concepts and ways of thinking. This requires international business negotiators to have strong cross-cultural awareness and comprehensive cross-cultural knowledge. Otherwise, you may break an article if you are not careful? Commandments? And all the previous efforts were in vain.
Second, the key elements of international business negotiators
(1) Gentlemen/Ladies
An excellent international business negotiator must first be a gentleman or a lady.
Everyone knows what a gentleman and a lady mean. In common business language, it means: look like a gentleman/lady, sound like a gentleman/lady, and act like a gentleman/lady. In other words, as a business negotiator, you must be educated and respect others in dressing, speaking and doing things. In this way, your negotiating opponent can respect you. Only on the basis of respect can negotiations be carried out. It can be said that this is the first level of successful negotiations. Some people say that wearing clothes and hats is personal. In daily life, it is true. But in international business negotiations, this is wrong. Some people have paid a huge price for this. I remember once talking to a German about an export contract for lawn mowers. German men wear suits and ties, German women wear professional clothes, and most of our staff wear casual clothes, and some even wear work clothes. An important reason why this contract was not signed is that the Germans think we don't respect them.
Rich knowledge
International business negotiation is an industry with very high professional requirements, which requires negotiators to have both extensive comprehensive knowledge and strong professional knowledge.
The specific requirements are as follows:
1. Extensive and comprehensive knowledge
2. Strong professional knowledge
In addition to mastering the knowledge of international trade, products and international markets, we should also understand cross-cultural knowledge. Many experts and scholars classify cross-cultural knowledge as comprehensive knowledge, but I think it should be classified as professional knowledge, which is the core professional knowledge of international business negotiators. The following is a real example of my personal experience.
1992, the author, as a business negotiator, formed a delegation with other 12 experts from different professions to purchase about $30 million in chemical equipment and technology in the United States. The United States naturally tries every means to satisfy us, and one of them is to give each of us a small souvenir. Souvenir packaging is exquisite, it is a beautiful red box, and red represents developed. But when we open the box face to face happily according to the American custom, everyone's face looks unnatural. There is a golf hat in it, but the color is green. The original intention of American businessmen is that after signing the contract, everyone will play golf. But where do they know? Wearing a cuckold? Is the biggest taboo for men in China. We didn't sign a contract with them, not because of them? Scold? We, but because they are too careless about their work. Even men in China are taboo? Wearing a cuckold? I don't know, how is it possible to give them tens of millions of projects?
There are many examples of negotiation failure due to ignoring cultural differences. Foreigners make mistakes, and so do China people. Mr. Zhang is an undergraduate majoring in marketing. He works in the sales department of a big company. He works hard and makes great achievements. Three years later, he was promoted to sales manager. Once, the company wanted to discuss new product development with an American multinational company, and the company entrusted Mr. Zhang to be responsible for reception arrangements. Teacher Zhang has also made a lot of detailed preparations for this. After several rounds of hard negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement. But when the contract was officially signed, the guests left as soon as they entered the signing hall. What is the reason? It turned out that when Mr. Zhang was decorating the signature hall, he mistakenly put the American flag on the left side of the signature desk. The project fell through and Mr. Zhang was transferred from his post. The traditional protocol ranking in China is upper left and lower right, and the international convention ranking is upper right and lower left; In foreign-related negotiations, it should be done in accordance with international practice, otherwise, even a negligence in details may lead to failure and all previous efforts will be wasted.
(3) Be flexible in doing things
Since the two sides can sit at the negotiating table, it shows that they have the sincerity to reach an agreement. Anyone who has had experience in experimental negotiation knows that before this, both sides have done a lot of preparatory work, including preliminary inquiry, counter-offer, and even sample delivery and acceptance. If only one party insists on an unnecessary position in business negotiations and the negotiations break down, it is really not worth the loss, but it will happen in real negotiations. The author was invited to attend a business negotiation. A large American trading company took a fancy to the grinder produced by a factory in China, so after the sample acceptance, it sent a three-person negotiating team to China to discuss the business contract. What puzzles the American side is that China must open an irrevocable letter of credit at sight on the grounds that this is the first time to do business with the American side. The American side explained the convention of their company, that is, D/A60 days, and presented their bank credit and the list of customers in China, but the Chinese factory director didn't listen to anything, and finally the negotiations broke up. Big fish? Just slipped away.
In fact, the rate of using letters of credit in international trade is decreasing year by year, because experienced businessmen know that letters of credit are unreliable, letter of credit fraud is everywhere, and the safest credit is the customer's credit. Therefore, it doesn't matter what kind of payment method is used if the customer's credit is investigated in advance. In other words, as sellers, our purpose is to sell goods and collect foreign exchange safely, rather than insisting on using letters of credit, which does not exist in international trade. Do it, or forget it? Situation. We can talk about anything.
(D) Unique ideas
If you have the same idea as your negotiating opponent, you will never get a bigger piece in the negotiation? Cake? . Only if you have unique opinions or negotiation skills can you win by surprise. There is a classic example in this regard: Keluntai's unique stunt. 1923 In May, Clentay was appointed as the plenipotentiary trade representative of the Soviet Union in Norway. At that time, the Soviet Union was in urgent need of a large amount of grain, and Clentay was ordered to negotiate with Norwegian businessmen to buy herring. Norwegian businessmen know the situation of the Soviet Union very well and want to take the opportunity to rip it off. The asking price is very high. Keluntai tried his best to bargain with them, but the two sides were far apart and the negotiations were deadlocked. Karen Tai is worried that she knows very well that begging is useless; Toughness can only lead to the breakdown of negotiations. She thought hard and finally came up with a plan. On this day, she met with Norwegian businessmen again and offered to make concessions in a conciliatory manner. I saw her generosity and said, well, I agree with your value. If our government does not recognize this price, I am willing to make up the difference with my salary. ? The Norwegian businessman was shocked! Krontai went on to say:? But my salary is limited, and the difference will be paid in installments, which may take a lifetime. If you agree, it's decided! ? Norwegian businessmen have never heard of such a thing, nor have they seen such a person who serves the country wholeheartedly. They were moved by her behavior. After whispering for a while, they finally agreed to reduce the price and signed an agreement according to Keluntai's original bid.
(5) humor.
International business negotiation is a time-consuming, laborious and sometimes even very boring job. Sometimes we talk about a clause for days and nights, arguing with each other and trying to do nothing, but we still can't reach an agreement. Sometimes the atmosphere is tense, sometimes it's depressing. At this time, if a clever negotiator can break the deadlock with a humorous story and cheer people up again, right? After a long drought? Although exciting.
(6) optimism.
International business negotiations are full of variables, often for days and nights, but finally they suddenly break down because of a small problem. This requires negotiators to be indomitable and have a positive and optimistic attitude. The following story is remembered by many negotiators.
Two people lost their way in the desert. After walking for days and nights, they ran out of ammunition and food, but they still couldn't find their way. One of them searched all the packages and found only half a bottle of water. He sighed. Alas, we only have half a bottle of water left. ? Then he fell down and never got up again. And the other party said happily:? Ha, we still have half a bottle of water! ? Then move on and finally get out of the desert.
In a word, international business negotiation is a complex transnational cross-cultural economic activity. It requires negotiators not only to have extensive horizontal knowledge, but also to have in-depth professional knowledge. An excellent international negotiator needs not only theoretical knowledge, but also rich negotiation experience, so the accumulation of experience is very important.
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