Successful Negotiation Skills In International Business

【Abstract】 If you master the skills of negotiating， then you can take the dominant position and gain the good results that you desire. We should learn these helpful tips.

【Key words】 skills; negotiation; tips

【摘要】掌握談判技巧，才能占领主导地位，获得期望结果。

【关键词】技巧;谈判;建议

【作者简介】张静慧，呼和浩特职业学院。

Negotiation is an effectual way of coordinating relationships and settling disputes. International negotiation actually is a communication， in which both sides and parties state their conditions， views and purposes. At the same time， listen to the requests， offers， decide the response， counter-offer and come to terms with each other， finally reaching an agreement.

Ⅰ.More Listening， Less Speaking

The negotiators lack of working experience leads them to believe that talking about information on themselves is the most important task for them， while they cant listen to the opponents statement. Although they can express themselves fully， even refute their partner， listening is still essential on the negotiating table. Otherwise they may lose much valuable items while they are considering what they should speak and ignore the others speech. Actually successful negotiators spent 50% time listening to the speech of others in order to get a good understanding. They listen to every sentence， even every word to make sure that they completely understand the true intentions of their opponent. So listening can increase the success rate in negotiating. It can let us see the opponents point of view， and discover new avenues to settle problems favorably. “Talking” is a task， while “listening” is ability， even a talent. “Effectively listening” is a quality of any negotiator. During the negotiating， they should encourage the partner to speak more and more， so we always say： “Yes”， “please go on”， moreover， ask some questions to get the desired answers， only by this method can we find the true motives or goals of the other side.

Ⅱ.Asking Questions skillfully

The second important skill of negotiation is to ask questions cleverly. By asking questions we can get some valuable information . Exporters should adapt an open style to in asking questions in order to see the requirement of the importers， for this kind of question can stimulate the importers to talk freely. For example：“Can you tell me more about your company？” “What do you think of our proposal？” We should write down the key points and vital questions for the later using. After offering， the importers always ask “Can you not do better than that？” facing this questions we should not yield， but to ask defining questions：“What is meant by better？” or “Better than what？” These questions show what are not satisfactory to the importers at all. For example： The importers can say：“Your competitor is offering better terms.” To this， we can continue asking until we are completely sure of the competitors offer. Then， we explain further to importers that in fact our offer has more potential benefit then the competitors. If the partner responds with an answer， “No problem”，we cant accept， but ask the detailed one.

Ⅲ. Using Conditional Questions

When we have acquainted ourselves with the partner， the negotiation will proceed to the stage of offering and counter-offering. In this stage we should use conditional questions to find out the details of our partners， and then we can rework our offering. The classical conditional questions are “What…if”，and “If…then”. For instance：“What would you do if we agree to a two-year contract？” and “If we modify your specifications， would you consider a larger order？” The conditional questions have many special advantages in the international trade negotiation. e.g.：“What if we agree to a two-year contract？ Would you give us exclusive distribution rights in our territory？” response is：“We would be ready to give you exclusive rights provided you agree to a three-year contract.”

Ⅳ.Avoiding the Interpretations from the International Culture Communion

In negotiating， we try our best to avoid using “no”， otherwise the partner will feel embarrassed， so lead the meeting into a deadlock. If we want to turn down some unreasonable requirements， we should replace “no” with the conditional questions， a bad situation can change. E.g.：“Would you be willing to meet the extra cost if we meet your additional requirements？”

References：

[1]New Rules for International Companies Written By Lester C. Thurow.