Secretarial knowledge > negotiation skills

Tips for negotiating with the Japanese (1)

The most important and difficult scene in international business negotiations is the contest in the negotiations. Even if you are well prepared, if you can't grasp it in this actual operation, you will always give up. I. Non-transactional contact stage In business negotiations, we are used to entering the negotiation theme after 5-10 minutes of chilling, which is not suitable for the Japanese. In negotiating with the Japanese, the role of top officials is only ceremonial, usually after signing the contract. Sometimes, they also participate in early non-transactional activities, and the location is chosen in informal places such as restaurants and golf courses. A senior Japanese executive said that 98% of topics are related to sports, politics and family, and only 2% are related to business. Many Japanese companies have resumes of their senior executives, and we can get information from them. When talking to a top Japanese executive, it’s not as important to say anything. Japanese top executives often make an overall judgment on the integrity, credibility and ability of the other company. Also need to pay attention to some details: Business cards can be exchanged or not. When the two presidents meet, the business card is not needed, but the Japanese business card should be prepared for exchange. It is necessary to bring a small gift, such as a pencil, tie and other decorations printed with the company logo, but it is not suitable for a paper cutter or a ribbon cutter that symbolizes deterioration. Gift exchanges only mean the mind, too expensive gifts are not suitable. It is necessary to express the desire of the two parties to cooperate in good faith in the future after the welcoming ceremony. It is necessary to pay attention to the expression must be indirect and suggestive. Such as: We are very happy, we can support your company in the future; we are proud of the high quality of our products, I hope you can share; your company and our company obviously have common goals in some aspects. The following practices are not appropriate, such as: If we can reach an agreement on the price, then the rest of the problem is secondary; the distribution plan for our company will be beneficial to us. Finally, when high-level contacts are held in our side, we should thank the other party for coming and pick up the hotel. The initial talks are best held in the living room atmosphere, not in the office. It should be noted that high-level leaders are not the object of bargaining, this is not their function. In Japan, the typical approach for non-business contacts of general executives is as follows: The Japanese negotiations will invite negotiating opponents and introducers to meet with Japanese companies later in the afternoon, where they will visit and conduct some business chats, 6:00 pm Left and right, Japan will recommend dinner, usually they choose the restaurant and pay the bill, you will not have the opportunity to pay, because you can't see the bill, at this time, the business topic is still not suitable. After dinner, the Japanese side will suggest to chat at the bar, so that it will be around 11:00 pm to schedule the meeting in the future. Through this period of communication, there are only some vague intentions of cooperation between the two parties. It is worth reminding that it is necessary to exchange business cards and give a small gift when leaving the office. Second, transactional information exchange to express information Japanese people list the problem in a similar way to the three-stage Chinese old narrative poem: Scenario introduction - detailed description - the main purpose, only after a long time to explain, to speak their own purpose . Secondly, the number of questions raised, the Japanese will continue to ask questions repeatedly, and even many people will ask the same question, which usually makes us angry. "Don't they believe me." In fact, this is related to the Japanese collective decision, we want Be patient and prepare enough information, but also control their questions in a timely manner. "I have talked to Mr. Moum yesterday about this issue, but I am repeating..." or "This is the same question I have talked about before, but I will repeat it again"; write down the question being asked to The Japanese share; in general, the question of repetition is 10 minutes for the second answer and 1 minute for the third time. When asked for the fourth time, the appropriate response is to silence or transfer the topic. Fortunately, when your Japanese opponent repeatedly asks you questions, you will be exposed to more information. When you see from the minutes of the meeting, if the Japanese asked about the delivery schedule six times, only two times asked about the service contract. Then they value the delivery time. The information obtained from the Japanese needs to be carefully scrutinized. If you ask the Japanese about your offer, they will say, “Hey, it looks good.” It’s very likely that they think it’s bad, let’s explain Here are three unmeasurable behaviors: collective decision, no one has the right to speak on behalf of the group; want to maintain a harmonious relationship; we can not understand the subtle non-speech negative clues, such as facial expressions, eyes and so on. To truly understand the need to establish informal communication channels, such informal communication channels must be completed by lower-level executives, which is one of the reasons for the low-level executives in the negotiating team. Here is an example of the importance of informal communication. A large American company seeks to cooperate with a small Japanese company. Negotiations have not achieved results among the executives. Although the Japanese director has shown interest in many aspects, it seems that he is still hesitant. The US decided to adopt a “wait and see” strategy. . However, nothing happened after 6 months. After that, the lower-level executives of the US company were invited by the Japanese low-level administrative staff. After a cup of tea, the Japanese explained the reason for the delay. "I have something to tell you, but I The boss is not inconvenient to talk to your boss. He told the question of price and company name change. In fact, as early as possible, the problem has been solved long ago, but the Japanese side believes that it will raise objections to a high-ranking buyer at the negotiating table. It is not suitable.

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