Any question that may arise in our lives can be resolved through communication. Talking with people on whom the further outcome of the development of the situation depends, you can, accordingly, achieve different results. This is an elementary and basic rule of communication, which is applied everywhere in human society.
The same rule applies in the business environment. Any actions that include the will of others may be discussed and agreed upon. Thus, each of the parties in the future may know what to expect in a given situation. This approach is expressed in the form of a negotiation process, which often precedes the conduct of some important operations and combinations.
The essence of the negotiation process
Let's start with the most general: what is the essence of the negotiation process? After all, if you think about it, you can act in a particular situation without coordination with other people. Each of us is independently responsible for our actions - so why not adhere to this rule and simply not abandon the idea of conducting business negotiations?
That's right - we can say that this process is optional and, of course, to negotiate with other people is not necessary. True, the consequences of this approach can become rather unfavorable for those who take responsibility for these actions.
Therefore, conducting business negotiations is a very important and at the same time necessary stage, which is present in any type of business. With its help, you can find out what your counterpart thinks for one reason or another, what goals he sets for himself, at what level he assesses the situation that has developed under certain conditions. Having received this information through discussion of your question, in the future you can use it for its intended purpose, choosing your own strategy of activity.
Negotiation basis
You must also understand that at the core of business negotiations involve communication. This is a kind of social bridge between people, which is expressed in a willingness to contribute to each other. In turn, this means the following: in order to conduct a dialogue on any issue, it is necessary to demonstrate your interest in a favorable solution to the current situation, as well as to show your willingness to seek and implement this solution. Only under such a condition, business negotiations can bring some benefits to its participants in the form of consensus or compromise.
Kinds
There are many types of negotiations, the separation of which takes place in form and substance. For example, we can distinguish between internal (conducted between departments of the same company) and external (involving outsiders) negotiations. You can also recall the formal and informal negotiations (the latter, rather, can be called a conversation), the difference in which is the degree of officiality - the presence of documented consolidation of certain moments, maintaining a protocol, the topics that this meeting is dedicated to.
Depending on their nature, negotiations can be divided into counter and partnership. The first are conducted when partners need to resolve the conflict by reaching a neutral solution that would suit all parties. This type of negotiation can be conducted quite aggressively, since their main goal is to “win” in a particular issue.The partner option, in turn, is, rather, the achievement of friendly agreements in terms of interests. At such meetings, aspects of partnership, cooperation and further joint development may be discussed.
Receptions
Any communication takes place using special techniques used by participants to achieve their own goals. The same can be said about the negotiation process.
It should be noted that the use of tools to influence your partner should be in several situations. One of them is the inability to reach a common agreement. A typical case is when one side insists on the observance of those conditions that the other cannot fundamentally agree to. In this case, each of the participants in the process is “checked for strength”. In addition, in such situations, the maximum that each of the parties can offer to achieve any result is found out. If it will be seen, for example, that one of the partners really refused a lot for the sake of the transaction, and the second is unshakable, perhaps in this case the negotiations should be stopped.
In general, the main tool by which negotiations should be completed is the search for a common interest in the interests of both parties. This is done very simply - each of the participants in the process describes what interests him and what conditions he is ready to agree to. In the future, a line is drawn that summarizes all the proposals and finds a common ground in them. A compromise solution should be based on this, and the parties were engaged in the search for it.
Differences in business negotiations
Of course, negotiations differ depending on what is their immediate subject. If we are talking about business, then this environment has its own characteristics that distinguish them, for example, from informal agreements.
First of all, this is a clear focus. Partners who have gathered to hold a dialogue on a particular occasion know for sure what they want. Accordingly, the discussion of the subject that they lead, aims at achieving some common interest. Since this is a business negotiation, such interest may be commercial in nature.
The second difference, which is included in the features of business negotiations, is mutual respect and equality of participants. Even if the situation that became the occasion for negotiations implies a different position of partners, at the level of business communication, participants should relate to each other equally, avoiding inequality in status. However, this characteristic refers more likely to etiquette (more on that later).
Business negotiations can be carried out both collectively and individually - depending on who is the representative of one or another side; as well as from who takes responsibility for the decisions made.
How are the negotiations going? Stages
In order to understand what business negotiations are, an example of such arrangements will be the best visual aid. But you don’t have to go far for it - pay attention to how agreements are created between some advanced state-owned companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft. We see the following stages of this process: identifying a problem that needs to be addressed; creation of tools to resolve the issue (each side is looking for arguments in its favor); appointment of direct negotiations. During the last stage they distinguish: determining the position of each of the parties, reporting it to the partner and a certain result - what exactly do the representatives want to achieve on a particular issue.
Thus, there are three main stages - the presentation of one’s point of view, the adoption of a partner’s position and the result — the determination of those fundamental principles with which you agree. Your interlocutor does the same.Features of business negotiations are such that after going through all three stages, you will receive either a general position regarding issues of interest to you, or a partial solution. In the event that the negotiation process was delayed and did not bring practically any benefit, we can talk about failure and new attempts to establish contact. Perhaps, in this case, it would be advisable to exchange representatives of the parties with new persons (if this is real).
Etiquette
In order for business negotiations to be carried out constructively and not develop into a trivial quarrel, it is necessary to adhere to special rules of communication. They are called "Etiquette of business negotiations. " They consist of several fundamental issues that relate to the appearance of the negotiator, the manner of his communication, the sense of tact in relation to the partner. We will not go into details - this is not necessary, since each specific case of negotiating is unique in its own way. This means that it depends on who the representatives of the parties are, in what relations the participants are, whether there is subordination between them, and so on.
The main thing is to understand that conducting business negotiations requires constant respect for those who are on the other side of the table. In addition, it is important to value the time of those people - therefore, one should not roughly impose their point of view or their own solution to the main issue. If they have already rejected your offer, you should probably not try to convince them. This can become very annoying. In addition, it is important to be able to formulate the idea that you want to convey through negotiations. Business communications that’s why they exist in order to find the most suitable solution for everyone as soon as possible. If in the process of dialogue you start to beat around the bush, this will bother your interlocutor.
Tune in!
In order to present your point of view as quickly and efficiently as possible, try to prepare your mind for what you need to say. This is called the "organization of business negotiations" - when you worry not only about the technical aspects of the negotiation process, but also pay attention to yourself as its participant.
Preparation before conducting a business conversation is very simple - you just need to work out in your mind some options for how you will start the conversation, what arguments you will try to mention, what conclusions you will bring your interlocutor to, and finally what you will be ready to go, yielding to your partner. Also, when performing this exercise, do not forget about the stages of business negotiations - remember them and think of what you will say at each. Of course, do not think too carefully about your text, verbatim recording your speech and trying to memorize it. No, the rules of business negotiations indicate that it’s just impossible to do so. On the contrary - try to be flexible, get ready for the fact that the interlocutor can put you in conditions for which you will not be ready. In this case, do not forget to adhere to the general line of conversation.
Venue
Of course, before organizing negotiations, think about where you would like to conduct them. It’s great if you are a representative of a large company that has its own specially equipped room where you can discuss all the important points. Surely in this case, you will use it. However, if in practice everything is different, that is, you do not have your own office - do not worry. Any institution is suitable: a restaurant or a good cafe in which you can discuss a matter of interest, while drinking a cup of coffee.
Again, the types of business negotiations strongly influence the choice of location. If this is communication with a person who alone can make the decision you need - perhaps you can hold a discussion of this issue in a restaurant.If you need to communicate with a team of representatives of the opposite side, then in this case, perhaps you should think about renting a conference room.
Respect
This has already been said above, but we will repeat: respect is one of the most important rules of negotiations. If earlier we talked about him as a component of etiquette, now we should outline it as one of the principles of dialogue with your partners. This means not only polite communication, but also an understanding of the position of the person sitting opposite.
We give a simple example. If the two parties cannot agree among themselves, this means that they do not understand each other and continue to bend the line of their own interests. If each of the partners pondered why his opponent makes this decision and not the other, perhaps a compromise would be found.
In fact, the negotiation process resembles bidding. If you know what your opponent wants, you can always make a better decision that will suit both. And for this it is necessary to resort to the technique that will be described in more detail below - you need to hear your interlocutor. It is not just about physically hearing what he is saying. You need to really understand the position of the person talking to you. Details are as follows.
Try to hear
Even Dale Carnegie in his books wrote that in any conversation it is very important to hear your interlocutor. Because in fact, we all know how to listen, but not everyone is given to hear. The author of books on psychology, sold in millions of copies, notes that to hear a person means to understand what exactly he wants to convey. A business conversation, business negotiations and the success of their conduct depends, inter alia, on whether you understand what your partner wanted to say or not. If this information is clear to you, accordingly, it will provide an opportunity to make the right decision and, thus, reach agreement. Otherwise, negotiations can fail if everyone stands firmly on their own.
Perhaps, taking the position of a partner, you can think about violating your own principles and some attitudes, about the manifestation of weakness of will and spirit. Nothing of the kind actually happens! Carnegie notes that by making concessions, you end up with more benefits than in a situation where you simply “push back” to suspend the entire negotiation process.
Smile
Of course, there are many formalities and subtleties in negotiating. If you pick up specialized literature, you will see for yourself that the process can be much more complicated, depending on the type and form of business negotiations. To tell you the truth, very often such an approach may turn out to be unjustified for the reason that it takes the negotiation process as something formalized, possibly even automated.
In fact, you should always remember: negotiations are a live communication with people. Whoever your partner is, he is, first and foremost, the person who came to the meeting for the same reason as you. At a minimum, this should unite your goals, give you the opportunity to find a common point of contact, from which you should build on. Only in this way will it be possible to come to some common denominator that will suit all participants in the negotiation group.
Therefore, do not worry if you have forgotten to apply some trick or thoughtful move that you planned ahead of time. In any conversation, you can always catch up, clarify a particular moment, apologize and try to persuade the interlocutor to his side. And business negotiations are in any case a conversation. Try to sincerely smile at your interlocutor - and you will succeed!
