How to negotiate with English-speaking colleagues: instructions

Many adult students begin to pull up their English in the first place for work. English has long been the language of international business: wherever you are, with whatever company you do business, most often all negotiations and sales transactions are conducted in English. Business English courses usually introduce you to the most common vocabulary, for example, job titles, company structure and business correspondence skills. But more often you will have to negotiate, be it by phone or in person. How to start planning negotiations and whether they should be planned at all? What vocabulary is needed at the very beginning? Is small talk appropriate in business negotiations? Understand the basics.

How are negotiations built?

The structure of the English negotiations in many ways resembles a Russian one, there are no subtleties here. To begin, you need to properly prepare and create an agenda - a plan that you will follow during the meeting. Many people think that the planning stage can be skipped, they say, I already know what to discuss with clients. But without a clear plan, negotiations at some point may come to a standstill. Careful planning will help you:



- do not forget all the topics that you want to discuss with a partner or potential client;

- fix all the suggestions and ideas that you want to offer your interlocutors;

- clearly define the objectives of the negotiations: what do you want to get from the interlocutors in the end;

- analyze the situation on the market, the current state of affairs at the second side of the negotiations, as well as explore the cultural characteristics of your interlocutors.

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Perhaps, here lies the main difference between negotiations with Russian and foreign companies. It is important to realize that many speech patterns, gestures and manner of speech in general vary greatly from country to country. Without knowing the cultural differences between you and your interlocutors, you risk, at best, not achieving the desired goal. At worst, you can seriously insult a client or a potential partner, and you will not have a second negotiation.



When the plan is ready, the meeting is organized, and the second party has already arrived at the venue of the negotiations, you can begin. Introduce yourself and speak the agenda - the interlocutors must also understand what they expect from you. At the stage of the negotiations, do not forget to check whether you understand the interlocutors correctly. Better to repeat than misunderstand each other. Periodically check the plan and goals: is everything going as it should? If there are disagreements, try to find a compromise or meet the other side.



At the end of the negotiations, speak the results and be sure to fix them in writing as soon as possible, notifying your partner / client. Do not forget about the so-called follow-up : depending on the scope of these " follow-up " activities may be different. For example, if you are selling something, you can call a customer and ask if everything suits him. Such communication will help you to establish contacts with English-speaking partners and customers, as well as in a timely manner to learn about their needs.

Do I need to negotiate a negotiation plan with the other side?

It all depends on the scale of the negotiations you have planned. But in any case, if such a need arises, you will need to make a competent letter. The following phrases will help you with this:

If you need to confirm the details or changes in the plan:

Could you please confirm that you have received the revised agenda?

Does the agenda meet your needs / expectations? (or “revised your needs / expectations.”)

Do you agree with the other items?

Shall we move forward on this basis?

If you need to add something to an existing plan:

I / We do it.

... has reminded us that we might might / must discuss ... because ...

We need to add to the agenda.

Could we put ... on the agenda after the point ...?



An important point: modal verbs are never enough! In English, the degree of politeness is much higher than in Russian. Instead of “let's discuss,” we’ll have to say “could we please also discuss.” Be sure to pull up the modal verbs (in particular, the difference between must and have to, as well as the verbs may, might, could, could, shall - we talk about this in the section of modal verbs on the site ) and make active use of the subjunctive mood instead of “let's” and “ we decided that it would be so. ”



Avoid mistakes: if a revised plan was sent to you with a request to confirm receipt, in no case answer “The agenda is well-received” . This error is often made by non-native English speakers, assuming that well-received means “received.” No, well-received is usually used in the context of acceptance by the public. For example, a new performance was released, and at the premiere the public accepted it well: “The new play was well received by the audience” . In the case of a letter, it is better to answer “Thank you, the revised agenda is safely received” .

How to start negotiations in English?

Suppose that you successfully completed the planning stage in your native language, translated your proposals and ideas into English, so that you have something to please your interlocutors, and now you have to start negotiations. Here are some useful phrases to greet the other side and outline a negotiation plan:



We would like to welcome you ...

Today we are going to talk about ...

You will enjoy your stay here. Let's get down to business.

Let's begin the discussion with ...



Do not forget that the appeal of “Dear ...” is quite appropriate both in business correspondence and in greeting, if, of course, you do not have ten people at the table. If you are two or three, you can start with the words “Dear Mr. X and Mr. Y, we would like to welcome you ... ” . Remember that in English the word “dear” has several meanings, and in the context of a business it is not “Dear Ivan Ivanovich”, but “Dear Ivan Ivanovich”.



After the greeting and small talk, which we will discuss below, it is important to negotiate a negotiation plan. This can be done with the following introductory phrases:



I would like to begin by suggesting the following agenda.

I think we should not establish the overall procedure.

Is this okay with you?

Is small talk appropriate in business negotiations?

And how! It can be said, small talk - talking about nothing - helps businesses keep afloat. Almost half of all business communication is small talk. In the end, we are all human, and we are pleased when we are treated with affability and kindness. Conducting serious deals, you want to be sure of the reliability of the partner. In fact, you trust and help him, and he helps you. You find out the needs of customers, ask what problems they face, offer their solutions. You should know your customers well, but you can't get to know them closer during off-hours. So is it worth spending small talk time on important negotiations? The answer is still yes: worth it.



In the negotiations, you will of course stick to the approved plan, but you should definitely include time for small talk in your plan. This will help you and your interlocutors get to know each other better, easily switch from one topic to another, and maintain a balance between a tense formal atmosphere and a less strict environment. Negotiations, in which participants communicate not only as business partners, are much more effective for both parties. Since in this article we looked at the initial stages of the negotiations, here’s a list of questions that may lead to small talk:

Upon arrival of the client to your office:

Is it your first visit to ...?

How was your journey?

It's great to finally put a face to a name.

It's nice to meet you at last.

During a break:

So, do you often travel for work?

Are you working on anything interesting at the moment?

What is your sector?



Of course, you can also discuss the weather or some topics that are close to you, if you already know the interlocutor well. Avoid overly personal questions and questions, the answer to which will be strictly confidential information.

In the next article we will learn how to correctly put forward proposals and ideas, politely agree or disagree, and also seek a compromise.

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