Successful Negotiations - part 1 pptx

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Successful Negotiations

A multimedia business English study guide to negotiating effectively in English

Written by

James Moss

Audio produced & recorded by

Paul Meredith

Online activities by

James Moss & Mario D ubielzig

permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews

Published 2009

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Successful Negotiations

Table of Contents

(Click a unit title to jump to the start of that unit)

2 Unit 401 – Negotiation Strategy (Part 1) pg 6-15

3 Unit 402 – Negotiation Strategy (Part 1) pg 16-25

4 Unit 403 – Building the Relationship pg 26-36

6 Unit 405 – Clarifying and Evaluating Positions pg 48-56

7 Unit 406 – Declining an Offer & Maintaining Goodwill pg 57-67

8 Unit 407 – Bargaining pg 68-78

9 Unit 408 – Restarting Talks pg 79-88

10 Unit 409 – Closing the Deal pg 89-99

11 Useful Language by Function pg 100-108

12 Online Flash Quizzes (click here to view the online activities)

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business english pod

Learners often ask me how to study more efficiently and effectively I have some suggestions Listen to each chapter and practice the example phrases multiple times First listen without the transcript; then, when you have time, go back and listen again with the transcript Underline and look up words you don’t understand It’s important to study vocabulary in context: Pay attention to collocations, or word partnerships, and words in whole sentences, with their accompanying prepositions and other grammatical characteristics

Do the practice section of each debrief at least a couple times; try substituting different language the second time you practice Substitution helps you increase your fluency, that is, your ability to say the same thing in many ways You can also record yourself, write and act out dialogs, and practice together with a learning partner These and many more strategies are covered in the study notes for each chapter

Successful Negotiations is targeted for intermediate learners at or above the

score of 3 or higher or an IELTS score of 5 or higher The materials are designed, however, to be useful to students at a variety of levels: intermediate learners will focus initially on language development, whereas upper-intermediate and more advanced learners can zoom in on skills development, high-level vocabulary, fluency, confidence and enhancement of overall professionalism

What’s Included?

All Business English Pod e-books come with a variety of study resources to

provide learners with maximum flexibility and value

You can access and download all the materials for this e-book on this webpage:

www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter2/ebooks/business-english-negotiations-ebook Each e-book includes the following resources:

Podcasts

MP3 lessons you can listen

to on your computer, MP3 player or mobile phone

Study Notes

PDF lesson transcripts with extra vocabulary and language exercises

PhraseCasts

Compact MP3’s of just the dialog, phrases and speaking practice

Online Activities

Interactive quizzes, listening and language review exercises

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Vocabulary

discussions there is an overemphasis on price, in my opinion.”

return (“Chip” originally refers to the round plastic coins used in betting during card games such as poker.) “We have to think of a few things that we can give away as bargaining chips during our talks.”

concerns whereas strategy may refer to general principles and the bigger

picture “How to get a larger discount on this order is more of a tactical question whereas how to build a long-term relationship is more of a strategic one.”

battle, war or negotiation in order to protect one’s interests and act in one’s benefit “We should build a coherent strategy for dealing with this market.”

will do if you don’t reach an agreement “Before you go into a negotiation, you should have an idea of what you will do if talks break down – this is called your BATNA, and it should be better than your bottom line; otherwise, you have nothing to gain from the negotiation.”

away from the talks “I’m already at my bottom line – I can’t accept a lower price than this.”

to have sth on the table refers to an offer that is already made “He put $3 million on the table, but I though it wasn’t enough.” “We have a lot of offers on the table, but none of them meet our expectations.”

example, credit terms, ownership, payment, and so on “How you structure a deal can be just as important as the actual price.”

not yet made offers “We should contact a range of potential buyers.”

credit terms can be a great deal sweetener.”

most cases negotiations are win-win – otherwise, how do people reach a compromise?

idea of a ‘win-win’ agreement has almost become a cliché.”

parties bottom lines that represents a possible area of agreement (If no such overlap exists, agreement is impossible.) “If I am buying, and you are selling, then our zone of possible agreement is the range between the highest price I am willing to pay and the lowest price you are willing to accept.”

based on all parties to a negotiation being willing to give up something in order

to make a deal Compromise can also be used as a verb, in which case it means something similar to: to make a concession “We reached a compromise after

many days of hard talks.”

both parties to a negotiation giving up things in turn to reach an agreement “To reach a compromise, it’s usually necessary for both sides to swap concessions.”

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Successful Negotiations

Dialog

Interviewer: What do you think are some of the top mistakes people make going into a negotiation?

Brian: Well, a lot of the most common mistakes usually start before the negotiation even begins

Interviewer: How do you mean?

Brian: For example, in the planning stages there is often an overemphasis on price… things like, “Should I put the first number on the table, or wait for them

to make the first move?” “Should I tell them what we really need, or should I

include some bargaining chips that we can give away later.”

Interviewer: Aren’t those things important?

Brian: Yes, of course, but they are just tactical questions None of them can

be answered without developing a coherent strategy first

Interviewer: So what goes into building a strategy?

Brian: There are several factors to consider The first one is what you’ll do if you

don’t come to an agreement… this is often called your BATNA, or “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.”

Interviewer: Isn’t that the same as your bottom line?

Brian: Not necessarily Your BATNA is what is already available, so your bottom line should be better Otherwise there’s nothing to be gained from negotiation

Interview: That makes sense

Brian: And in determining the best alternative, we have to look at more than

just the offers that we currently have on the table, and we have to take other

factors into consideration than just the price For example, there may be other

ways to structure the deal, more potential buyers out there, or deal sweeteners, such as payment in cash instead of credit

Interviewer: Is it all about maximizing your own benefit? Or do you think

there’s anything to the idea of a win-win agreement?

Brian: Well, win-win has become a bit of a cliché But let’s take a look at the

original meaning of the word: Of course we are both trying to get the best deal,

but consider this: If I am selling, and you are buying, and my bottom line is lower than the highest price you are willing to pay, then we call that overlap the

zone of possible agreement Reaching a compromise anywhere in that

zone is a win-win solution It’s just a matter of swapping concessions to get

there

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Debrief

Let’s review the vocabulary and concepts that Brian uses to introduce the topic

of negotiations

How does the dialog begin? The interviewer asks Brian about the top mistakes people make in a negotiation Surprisingly, Brian replies that the most common

mistakes actually start before the negotiation begins What are those mistakes?

Listen again

Brian: For example, in the planning stages there is often an overemphasis on price

Brian says people have an overemphasis – that is, too much emphasis – on price The verb form is to overemphasize This word is useful for describing

situations in which someone pays too much attention to something, often to the neglect or detriment of something else Let’s listen to a few more examples of this expression in use

 In my opinion, there seems to be an overemphasis on price in our discussions

 If you ask me, we’re overemphasizing delivery time – we should be more focused on quality

 We have to be careful not to overemphasize minor factors

Brian then goes on to provide two examples of an overemphasis on price

Brian: … things like, “Should I put the first number on the table, or wait for them to make the first move?” “Should I tell them what we really need, or

should I include some bargaining chips that we can give away later.”

What are bargaining chips? In a game of cards, such as poker, we often bet

“chips” – little round plastic discs – instead of cash Each chip represents a certain amount of money Idiomatically, a “bargaining chip” is anything that you can bet or give away in return to something else (For example, you may be able

to use delivery time as a bargaining chip in order to get a concession on price.) Let’s practice this idiom by listening to some more examples:

 Since he was very flexible on warranty period, he used this as a bargaining

chip to get concessions on delivery time

 They are obviously using their good relationships with local government as a bargaining chip to try to negotiate exclusive rights to sell our product in this

market

 It’s too early in the negotiation to throw away bargaining chips – never give

something up without getting something in return!

How does the interviewer respond to Brian’s statement that people often overemphasize price?

Interviewer: Aren’t those things important?

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Successful Negotiations

Brian: Yes, of course, but they are just tactical questions None of them can

be answered without developing a coherent strategy first

Brian’s point here is that price is merely a tactical question, which can’t be

answered until we first develop a coherent – that is logical and consistent –

strategy What is the difference between tactics and strategy? They are often used the same way But here’s one way to think of the difference: Tactics are what we need to win the battle, whereas strategy is what we need to win the

war Tactics usually refers to details, whereas strategy often refers to general

principles

Let’s listen to some more examples of tactics and strategy:

 We always have to keep in mind our long-term strategy of building a good

relationship

 Tactical concerns include discount and delivery; using this client to establish

a relationship in this new market is more of a strategic concern

 It’s time to go beyond just thinking about short-term tactics and start considering long-term strategies

Next, Brian discusses an important factor in building a strategy: Your best

alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA The interviewer asks about the

difference between a BATNA, or best alternative, and a bottom line, which is also

know as your “walk-away point,” the minimum offer you are prepared to accept:

Interviewer: Isn’t that the same as your bottom line?

Brian: Not necessarily Your BATNA is what is already available, so your bottom line should be better Otherwise there’s nothing to be gained from negotiation

Brian is saying that our BATNA is what we will do if we don’t reach an

agreement, so our bottom line – the worst possible agreement we can accept – should be better than that

Now, listen to some example phrases using BATNA and bottom line

 To determine our BATNA, we have to consider not just the other offers on the table, but also potential buyers that we haven’t yet talked to

 Before you can determine your bottom line, you need to put a value on your best alternative

 Sometimes your best alternative is to do nothing at all

 Several not-so-obvious things go into deciding your BATNA, including the timing of the deal – a bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush

The last example includes an idiom – a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush This means that gains we have gotten now should be valued more highly than greater gains that are merely promised for the future

The difference between BATNA and bottom line should now be clear But how do

we determine our BATNA?

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Brian: And in determining the best alternative, we have to look at more than

just the offers that we currently have on the table, and we have to take other

factors into consideration than just the price For example, there may be other

ways to structure the deal, more potential buyers out there, or deal sweeteners, such as good timing or payment in cash instead of credit

As Brian points out, our best alternative is not necessarily just the best offer we

have on the table, that is, our BATNA is not necessarily the best offer we have

received so far Also, to decide our best alternative, we have to actually consider

a number of factors besides just price What are these other important considerations?

The first one is how the deal is structured, that is, for example, credit terms,

payment periods, legal aspects, and so on

Second, we may want to think about other potential buyers – not just the ones

we have already contacted

Finally, there may be some deal sweeteners, which refer to factors beyond mere

price that make an arrangement “sweeter,” that is, more attractive

Let’s look at some example phrases with this last idiom, deal sweeteners

 If we’re going to get them to agree to our offer, we’re going to have to think

of some ways to sweeten the deal

 Why don’t I sweeten the deal a little by increasing our discount by 1%?

 There’s a variety of deal sweeteners that we can use to make buying our company more attractive

Next, the interviewer asks Brian what he thinks about the idea of a win-win

negotiation Brian replies that win-win has become a cliché, that is an expression

that is used so much that it becomes meaningless But then he encourages us to

think about the actual meaning of win-win:

Brian: …Of course we are both trying to get the best deal, but consider this: If I

am selling, and you are buying, and my bottom line is lower than the highest

price you are willing to pay, then we call that overlap the zone of possible agreement Reaching a compromise anywhere in that zone is a win-win

solution It’s just a matter of swapping concessions to get there

What Brian is saying is that all negotiations – to be successful – must be

win-win: If you are buying, and I am selling, the lowest price I am willing to give you

must be under the highest price that you are wiling to pay This area of overlap between our bottom lines is referred to as the zone of possible agreement Any

compromise we reach in that zone benefits both of us We reach an agreement

in this zone by swapping – that is, trading – concessions: First you make a concession, than I make one, until we make a deal

Let’s review agreement, compromise, and concessions with some example phrases

As you listen, pay attention to collocations – word partnerships between nouns and verbs

Tiêu đề	Successful Negotiations
Tác giả	James Moss, Paul Meredith, Mario Dubielzig
Trường học	Business English Pod Ltd.
Chuyên ngành	Business English
Thể loại	Study Guide
Năm xuất bản	2009
Thành phố	Not Specified

Định dạng
Số trang	9
Dung lượng	466,73 KB