Business negotiations: types, rules and examples of conducting

Business negotiations are present in the life of every manager of any level. In fact, this is a business conversation, which is a form of verbal exchange of information between several people. Formal decisions are not always made after business negotiations, but they are useful due to the information received during the conversations.

Business negotiations are business communication that helps to reach an agreement between the parties. Negotiations are necessary in order to be able to discuss the problem with the partner, and also to try to find a solution that will satisfy all parties. Today, it is very important for a qualified manager to be able to conduct business negotiations.

Negotiations can carry the following functions:

• Informational – when the parties only want to exchange different points of view in preparation for the main negotiations.
• Communicative - in this case, the parties prefer to establish new ties, relationships.
• Control, coordination of actions. In this case, negotiations are conducted by partners who have already established business relations, and they only need to clarify some of the nuances of previously achieved relationships.
• Regulatory - this function is necessary if you need to resolve a problem or conflict in time, to stop all disputes.

Business negotiations can be divided into two types - internal and external. Internal negotiations are held within your team or company. External negotiations are those in which the invited party is present, it can be partners, competitors or customers. Internal negotiations often end in mutual agreements. Here, two parties are working to obtain a positive result for the company: they analyze, draw conclusions and offer the best options for getting out of the current situation.

At Harvard, alumni and professors have come up with a new kind of principled negotiation. Here, concessions and firmness of position alternate. We know this method as the “carrot and stick method”. The essence of this principle is to keep a tough position, which allows you to consider in the first place only the key essence of the problem or the issue under discussion.

With business partners, it is best to follow the rules established in the business environment. This will give you the opportunity to have good, strong and mutually beneficial relationships in the future.

In ancient Byzantium, the "minutes" was the first part of the document, which usually contained a list of participants in the meeting. Today it is a set of rules, according to which a variety of ceremonies should be held, a dress code, a form of official letters, and so on should be established.

Each violation of the laws of protocol will mean that those who violated the protocol may have problems. This party should apologize for their mistake. Then the oversight must be corrected. Thanks to the observance of the protocol during negotiations and greetings, with document management and the conduct of various contracts, business meetings become more important.

Each country has its own national ethical standards. But basically this concept is the same for everyone.

Almost all preparation for negotiations (both internal and external) is divided into several elements. The main ones include the following:

• definition of the problem, for which it is necessary to negotiate;
• search for those who will help solve the problems that have arisen;
• determination of interests (own and partner);
• a clear formulation of the plan and program of the meeting;
• if necessary, representatives of the delegation are selected;
• organizational moments - collection of documentation, tables, samples and other materials that may be useful in negotiations.

Meetings can be internal and external, official and informal. These are their main styles.The difference in them is the presence of documentary consolidation of individual points, the protocol of negotiations, the features of the topics discussed and the subject of this conversation.

According to the nature of the negotiations can be divided into partnership and counter. Counter negotiations are held if there is a conflict between the parties that needs to be resolved. In this case, the solution should be neutral and suit both parties.. This type of conversation is known for being aggressive, as each side wants to win the negotiation. In this type of conversation, partnership, cooperation, development of the parties are usually discussed.

The negotiation process can be divided into several stages. Their structure has long been determined. One of the main stages in the negotiations is an introductory conversation, during which you can clarify the subject of the meeting, resolve emerging issues on the organization of negotiations. It can also be a meeting of experts, which usually takes place before the start of negotiations between leaders and delegations.

The main six stages are:

• Training. Proper preparation for business negotiations is 90% of success. Despite the great desire to act impromptu, it is not recommended to ignore this stage before the meeting. Next, you can add an intermediate stage of views.
• clarification. Do not act immediately, do not start bidding. Try to technically establish contact with the other side, determine its standards. Next, try to find out, with the help of pre-prepared questions, what interests the other side has.
• Proposing proposals. This stage is typical as a means of resolving disputes.Here the parties can exchange proposals, determine where and why they have misunderstandings. Be sure to record all disagreements and disputes.
• Bargain. This part of the meeting affects what you agree on. Here you can resolve all disagreements through the exchange of information, concessions. Effective bargaining is the exchange of something that can have a different price and value for each opponent.

• Making decisions. We can assume that you are approaching the final stage of negotiations. However, take your time. Ask yourself the question: “Is the proposed agreement profitable or can an even better option be negotiated? »
• Consolidation of agreements - the final of your meeting. There are times when opponents agreed on everything and dispersed. However, the very next day, during the implementation of the agreements, a situation may arise that someone misunderstood their opponent in the wrong way. That is why it is necessary to technically fix absolutely all the agreements and results of the meeting. This will help avoid ambiguous situations in the future.

Absolutely any negotiations must be prepared in advance. When preparing, it is desirable to collect the necessary information about the partner, think over the arguments for your proposal in advance, and it is also advisable to think through and play out in advance all possible options for the outcome of a business conversation.

There are a huge number of methods for conducting tough negotiations. Several main ones.

Here the tough negotiator puts all the cards on the table almost immediately. At the same time, he declares absolutely all the resources that he has available (or not).The calculation in this negotiation tactic is based on the fact that all options that the other side can prepare are immediately considered “wrong” and “unattractive” for cooperation.

If the opponent of the hard side perceives this information as a fact, he has no choice but to agree or leave. The disadvantages of this method include the possible loss of a potential partner (possibly in the future).

After the tough opponent announces all the conditions to the “victim”, you can agree to talk about these conditions. In this case, the “victim” can lead the opponent to the scenario she needs by providing her arguments.

You can stand your ground more firmly. Here, the opponent can already think about what exactly he will lose, and can accept the conditions of the “sacrifice” (with some amendments in his favor).

In combination with the words "Yes, but on condition ..." and a friendly conversation, the opponent can relax a little. Further, the "victim" can go on the offensive. The purpose of this game is to continue the conversation.

A strong negotiator will change the mood of the other side. Here, from a tough negotiator, either pleasant words or accusations are heard. Contradictions from the mouth of one person during one conversation will prevent the "victim" from thinking about his offer. She may be in a confused state, may lose psychological stability.

To counter a strong opponent in this type of negotiation, The "victim" must initially understand that this is a game and it is played solely for one purpose. To put the attacking side to a standstill, it will be enough to gently but persistently ask to understand the situation that has occurred, using the “criteria clash” method. A prerequisite is that the “victim” must speak confidently and non-aggressively. This leads the attacker to a dead end and does not give the opportunity to reproach the opponent for rude negotiation.

This tactic is a good combination of the previous two. First, a tough negotiator communicates, conducts bidding, and so on. Everything goes well until the moment when the “victim” wants to say his final “yes”. Here, the hard side is already fully involved in the work and goes on the attack, saying: “This proposal is not appropriate for us. We are not interested in it."

The calculation is made on the fact that the relaxed “victim” will not repulse the tough negotiator and will be able to accept the first conditions that the tough opponent initially stipulated at the beginning of the negotiations.

During this method of negotiation, a number of categorical prohibitions apply:

• You can not accept any statements in relation to yourself and to the proposal. If a tough opponent would have any remarks in relation to your personality, he would immediately express them.
• This method of conversation should not end after the first refusal. In this case, bargaining is appropriate.
• You don't have to apologize.
• Don't make excuses.
• Don't give up your positions.
• You should also not attack in response or show aggression.
• Do not give your interlocutor a negative assessment. Don't be like him.
• Try to replace unpleasant and negative words with softer ones.

In this type of negotiation, there are several actions you can take to turn the situation in your favor:

• Ask clarifying questions. Work on each individual position, called the interlocutor.
• Ask about criteria. For example: “Do I understand correctly that ...”, “What is important for you, we did not mention in the conversation? ".
• You can try to expose the interlocutor with leading questions: “Do I understand correctly that you are bargaining with me? "," I think that our proposal is not suitable. Can you elaborate on exactly what? ".

According to certain rules of negotiation etiquette, there are time frames for the conversation, which are initially discussed at the preliminary stage. Therefore, when the parties come to the negotiations, they already understand what awaits them. Based on this, they build a conversation plan, select arguments, tactics, facts. The hard side in this case is trying to break the entire negotiation scenario that you have already prepared in advance and impose your own.

Prior to the start of the meeting, the parties can stipulate the range of issues to be discussed in the negotiations. The negotiator thinks the meeting will last at least 40 minutes. However, immediately after the meeting, the tough side announces that there are only 10-15 minutes and no more. The “victim” prepared her presentation for at least 15 minutes.

This is calculated to demonstrate the weak side of its weakness. Either the “victim” will obey the rules and requirements, or he leaves immediately.In no case should you be indignant, take all the words spoken by the hard side as the truth, try to meet the allotted time.

What can be done:

• You can agree. However, it's best to ignore it. Negotiate as if nothing happened.
• The meeting is usually run by someone who knows how to listen and ask the right questions. Above all, don't overwhelm the other side with a presentation of yourself and your proposal. First, ask him about his needs, about what selection criteria are important to him.
• Once you have figured out all of his needs, you can give your opponent exactly what he wanted.

In the next video, you will find a methodology for conducting business negotiations (preparation, manipulation techniques and examples of effective business communication).