3. Negotiation
Know who you are negotiating with
• Know their culture and expectations
• Different cultures negotiate in different ways
4. Negotiation
Stating a clear "yes" or "no" vs. reading
between the lines
• Present your needs
• Understanding
• Compromise
5. Negotiation
What is a negotiation?
• “A discussion aimed at reaching an
agreement.”
• Requires a specific goal
• Requires a decision between
participants
6. Negotiation
1. Two or more parties having different claims and
goals gather to meet with one another
2. Each party presents their claim and goal
3. Each party tries to convince others and tell
them why their demand should be fulfilled
4. They either accept or reject the claim or make a
compromise to reach a point of agreement
7. Negotiation
First: set priorities
• Know what you want before negotiations begin
• Your goal = Your objective
• Know your objective and stick to it
Expect the unexpected
• Counteroffer: Be prepared. – How will you
respond?
8. Negotiation
Example phrases:
• What do you think about our proposal?
• I know we can do better than this.
• What can we do about this?
• I’m a bit disappointed in your offer.
9. Negotiation
Example phrases:
• That won’t do.
• Where can you help me cut this?
• That would be really tough for us.
• I’ve got a problem with this.
10. Negotiation
Achieve objective! Maximize benefits!
Two important points:
1. Present bottom line and ALWAYS stick to it
2. Be realistic
• Want vs. Need
The objective of this lesson is to learn how people communicate in a negotiation. It is important to know who you are negotiating with. Make sure you know their culture and expectations.
In general, the Japanese tend to expect others to “read between the lines” especially when they want to indicate disagreement. Among many English learners, it has become a well-known fact that one needs to indicate “yes” or “no” clearly at any negotiation scenes.
However, a skilled negotiator knows how best to present his/her needs, make the other party (or parties) understand why such needs should be fulfilled and perhaps most importantly, in any realistic situations, make the best compromise necessary to achieve the objective.
What is a negotiation?
The Oxford dictionary defines the word as “a discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.”
While a mere discussion does not necessarily require any goal as to what needs to be decided or agreed on between or among its participants, a negotiation always requires a goal - what is it that needs to be agreed on?
Here’s how a typical negotiation proceeds:
1. Two or more parties having different claims and goals gather to meet with one another
2. Each party presents their claim and goal
3. Each party tries to convince others and tell them why their demand should be fulfilled
4. They either accept or reject the claim or make a compromise to reach a point of agreement
It is important to make your points clear at any stage of negotiation. Sometimes you have to be bold enough to reject an offer upfront or everyone would waste their time trying to reach an agreement that can never be reached in the first place.
How to become a skillful negotiator
First you need to set your priorities straight. In other words, before you start your presentation always make sure that YOU know what you want. If you want to convince your manager that you should get a pay raise, don’t approach the manager unless you know what the objective is. What if your manager makes a counteroffer that might be more appealing to you than a pay raise? What would you say to your manager? Try to stick to one or two goals only and always expect the unexpected.
Here are some example phrases you will often hear in any negotiation talks:
- What do you think about our proposal?
- I know we can do better than this.
- What can we do about this?
- I`m a bit disappointed in your offer.
- That won`t do.
- Where can you help me cut this?
- That would be really tough for us.
- I`ve got a problem with this.
*Note: "Where can you help me cut this?" would be used in a negotiation about finances instead of a general negotiation.
Let’s look at more examples.
- That won`t do.
- Where can you help me cut this?
- That would be really tough for us.
- I`ve got a problem with this.
*Note: "Where can you help me cut this?" would be used in a negotiation about finances instead of a general negotiation.
How to make a compromise:
We all make compromises in our life.
In business situations, however, the key is to achieve your objective while maximizing the benefit that comes with the offer.
There are two important points to remember:
1. Present your bottom line and ALWAYS stick to it
(Your bottom line is a point where you’d say “This is the least you have to offer me or I will walk away.”)
2. Be realistic
There is a difference between what you want to achieve and what you need to achieve. In most cases, you can’t get what you want but if you know the least that you need to accomplish, you will find it much easier to make the compromise necessary to achieve that goal.