Peleckis Kęstutis
professor
Doctor of social sciences
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania
HOW TO STREGTHEN THE CONFIDENCE OF BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS AND BUSINESS MEETINGS
All business negotiations and business meetings are associated with risk. Therefore trust in the other side of negotiations is very important. The absence of trust consists of a vacuum, which necessarily fills the alternative structure. Negotiators often will say that they are willing to negotiate honestly, but sometimes talks could collapse because each of negotiations side lack confidence on the other side of negotiations, its competence or good intentions. If one of the negotiating parties, perhaps, would like to make a concession, discount or share sensitive information in exchange for the expectation of concessions or compromise of another side of negotiations, but there is always the risk that the other side will refuse to concede, or worse - will use information obtained in his favor. Confidence is particularly weak when there is no information, when negotiating with strangers, whose bargaining power and status are greater. Confidence can occur naturally over time, but negotiators rarely have such opportunities. So sometimes it seems that the easiest way to negotiate is not risking, safely, cautiously, making agreement with a number of compromises, concessions and with exchange of some kind information. However, in order to avoid risks we can lose enormous opportunities and not to achieve optimal results.
Confidence in business negotiations, business meetings can be strengthened in the following ways:
• Use elementary, precise and convincing concepts. Confidence is raised by understandable words. Credibility is very easy to drown in the multitude of words, terminology, international or other words, especially if they are not clear to the interviewer opponent.
• Avoid negative expressions and formulations. Negative expressions and formulas should be modified into phrases which predisposes positively.
• Talk about the interviewer desires, interests and needs. This means that you have to talk with your interlocutor about that what he would like to hear. This does not mean that you have to indulge him. Just other person wants to talk with you about: his goals, interests, and benefits and wish that you will understand and accept all this.
Try to avoid the following wording:
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Change the wording as follows:
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"I would like ..."
"For me, this looks interesting ..."
"I came to the conclusion ..."
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"You want to ...”
"You will be interested to know ..."
"You probably could say that ..."
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• Use words that represent trust. To create the compelling text is not difficult - you just need to tie with so-called trust words. These words have not meaning and value solely, but they express or cause emotions for us also.
• Provide numbers and specific facts. The numbers in your language will provide the reliability and feasibility.
Trust can be described as an assumption that others will behave the way you expect. In other words, it means that other people, institutions or organizations will meet your expectations. When we trust, we hope that we will get the results desired. When we have confidence in other people, we give them greater freedom of action. When our trust is too low or when it is total absence, then we are trying hard to control all business conversations and relations.
Trust always involves some risk in deciding what is worth trust. Being entrusting we are like betting thereon how will behave other people, and what will be the consequences of their activities. In cases when the behavior of trust objects do not meet the expectations, we are losing a bet. Decision to trust may facilitate, for example, the behavior of confidence objects in the past, in other words, their reputation. Often we rely just on facts: if man promised and made good on something, then it's quite responsible. And when he complied with words more than one or two times he has to be trusted. Genuine confidence is being developed at regular and long-term business relations. But what does sustainability mean? In the business relations cannot be created rules: "Sign the contract only in the fifth meeting, talk about the real needs and desires only after two hours of business communication", "Put aside advance payments for up to one year cooperation...". But the benefits of trust are unambiguous: only relying on each other during negotiations and business communication, it will be possible to achieve common goals. You need to look for confidence not only in other people but also in yourself. Refer to what you already know – to your personal characteristics, especially those in which you can be proud of and you would like to develop.
Trust is a precondition for successful cooperation and the result. Confidence plays a positive impact on the confident person, relationship in negotiating group, organization represented, for relations with the other negotiating side. It liberates and mobilizes the negotiator actions, encourages creative, innovative activity towards others, it reduces uncertainty and risk and increases the possible options for action. Trust is necessary in order to feel that negotiating partner or interlocutor will not betray us, that we could work and schedule the work together, would risk and communicate securely.
Conclusions
1. All business negotiations are concerned with risk. Therefore it is very important confidence in the other side of the negotiations. Confidence is particularly weak when it is a lack of information, when it is negotiations with strangers, who have greater bargaining power and status. Confidence can occur naturally over time, but negotiators rarely have time and opportunity to afford such a luxury. So sometimes it seems the easiest way is to negotiate without risk, safely and carefully, making agreement, with a few compromises, multiple rates and with a slight exchange of information. However, in order to avoid risks we can lose enormous opportunities, not to achieve the optimal results.
2. Negotiators, like all other people, are characterized by stereotypes. Stereotypes rarely emerge from personal experience. Often people pick them up in childhood from parents, teachers, from people of the group they belong, from media sources. Stereotypes are polished, blurred if people from different groups come into close cooperation by discovering more about each other in order to achieve common goals. Thus, the images of the interviewer, negotiations opponent is formed on the basis of stereotypes. How much is accurate stereotypical image of the first impression it’s quite difficult question. On the one hand, almost every adult having experience can describe such characteristics of his interviewer quite accurately by clothing, language, manners and behavior: psychological characteristics, age, social class, profession. However, this operates accurately in neutral situations, while in others, where people are interested in each other, there is the potential for higher or lower error.
3. Inequality of negotiation opponents, interlocutors is causing comprehension errors, arising from the advantage factor. This scheme is as follows: when we meet with someone, having some kind of advantage, we tend to treat him more positively than it would be if we were equal under that parameter. And on the contrary - if we have certain advantages against our interlocutor, then our own advantage we move to our other properties (parameters). Thus, the advantage is fixed by only one parameter, and self-overestimation (or underestimating) is transferred to many properties. However, this scheme is activated only when there is a significant advantage, but not small.
4. The pre-formed opinion has a very significant impact on the development of an opponent’s, the interviewer’s understanding and trust. This determines how the recipient accepts and interprets information. It is found that is very difficult to refute false ideas, untruth, if the interviewer this justifies logically. This phenomenon (called belief sustainability) shows that beliefs can live their life and even after the destruction of evidence they can survive. So misperception about other people or about ourselves may continue to live, to exist, despite disrepute. To change opinion is needed much stronger evidence and arguments than to create it.
5. It is very important to be able to take off the mask, to be open and sincere with the interviewer at the beginning of the business negotiation, business meeting. In the open, honest communication it is impossible trust worthy relationship. To better understand the peculiarities of our business relationship with another man we need to take interest in his reaction to our behavior in specific situations, the ability to assess the real consequences of our deeds, expressions. With this information - how we are perceived, understood and valued by different people - we can see ourselves in several different faces and modify our behavior in subsequent stages of the business relations in the right direction, avoiding the problems of starting conversation and confidence-building.
Ананьева Е.П., к.фил.н.
доцент, докторант
государственное учреждение «Южноукраинский национальный педагогический университет им. К.Д. Ушинского»
Украина, г. Одесса
Россия, г. Севастополь
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