Warming up for Negotiations
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Business negotiation is obviously some mixture of art, science, culture, psychology, etc. But there are regional differences -especially in a country as large as China. Before you negotiate away from home, practice in your new location to learn the local differences. Here are some quick tips you can test drive to hone your business negotiations.
All the same steps apply: think about what you want ahead of time; define the standards/specifications; decide on the maximum price and conditions you’ll accept. Write it down. I’ve always found benefit in simply writing - committing -thoughts to a piece of paper. And never share it with others: purely internal, personal use.
Before you go to the new city in which you’ll negotiate, arrange to meet your interpreter a half day before the meetings. Call the concierge of the hotel in which you will stay or a friend in that city and them for the best marketplace and a few decent markets for something that’s related to the good or service you’re about to negotiate.
About a half day before your meeting, go with your interpreter to the marketplace and explain you’d like to buy this or that product and this or that service. A common characteristic of good interpreters is a desire to get all the material they can ahead of time so they can practice the specific terms and concepts peculiar to a type of business. Going to the marketplace achieves a similar effect, but without having to hand over any cluttering documents.
The folks in the stalls do hundreds of mini negotiations a month, are familiar with all the tactics and sometimes reflect and other times inform the local negotiation culture. This is fun and relatively lowthreat way to practice.
Each region differs slightly, so this exercise calibrates your senses to the new marketplace. Listen to the rhythms. Who starts new topics? How does one party take lead in changing the topic or pace? What key words or phrases do they use to express satisfaction and dissatisfaction? What words or phrases indicate they are near agreement? What body language and gestures accompany the words? Do this two to three times. Now put on your game face and get in the scrum.
Go to a completely different row or even another nearby marketplace. Try your hand. You and your interpreter are now actively practicing those skills you will directly apply in negotiations. See how easy it is to get caught up in the excitement. That’s where your internal, written goals serve their purpose. Stick by your guidelines -they’ll keep you from going off the rails.
After two to three practice runs, you and your interpreter will have good rapport and have learned how to read each other. I find this is a very quick way to build mutual confidence with your interpreter.
However, after this exercise if you find the ladies from the provinces are the toughest negotiators you have ever met, here are three suggestions: 1) hire one of them to do your negotiations; 2) practice some more or even postpone your meeting; 3) don’t enter into negotiations.
Obviously, it is better to discover a way to move forward, but if you find you’re about to get locked into a really bad deal, remember the 36th stratagem is“Run away”. Better to not sign a deal than to sign a deal which ends up decimating your business. Signing what is perceived as an onerous agreement will only lead to bad feelings and casting the worst possible light on any further discussions. That feeling of distrust is a guaranteed path to business disaster.
While the stakes are low and the chances of getting into your spouse’s good graces are high is a perfect time to warm up and practice for when you need to perform. The Chinese marketplace is a delightful lab for learning local conditions and local negotiation style. Now try it out.