On Business Negotiation Etiquette and Skills

On Business Negotiation Etiquette and Skills 1. IntroductionWith the development of economy, international communication is becoming more and more frequent in China and etiquette also becomes an essential part of our social life. Business negotiation is business communication events among enterprises and the quality of negotiators will directly affect the success or failure of the negotiation. This essay focuses on the etiquettes in business negotiation. It illustrates the skills on dress, meet, negotiation and gift.2. An overview of etiquette and business etiquetteEtiquette relates to a code of behaviors among people within an organization group or society. Etiquette is manifestation of culture communication, when in communication, people focus only on verbal communication, but ignores non-verbal communication, while non-verbal communication plays an important role in information transmission. The etiquette of business is the set of written and unwritten rules of conduct that make social interactions run more smoothly. Business etiquette is the business etiquette norms. Business etiquette is coordination and communication functions with cohesion emotional role.3. Business etiquette skillsBecause of cultural differences, different countries have different taboos. And in the process of business negotiation, we should know their taboos in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and conflict. In a word, during thebusiness negotiation, we should pay attention to the skills of etiquette.3.1 Dress etiquetteDress etiquette is the most basic courtesy in an international business negotiation. Appropriate clothing is not only a personal appearance of high-quality performance, but also a basic respect for others. Business has always attached great importance to clothing .Clothing is a merchant key to success. In international business negotiations, clothing is required traditional, dignified and elegant. For men, the general requirement is wearing a suit with a tie. Blue, gray or black is suitable for most countries, even including attending the negotiating party or watching performances. For women, professional suit is the best choice, which is applicable everywhere in the world. Men should avoid wearing informal clothing or sportswear. While women avoid wearing too exposed, too tight or too transparent clothes, and avoid wearing too much jewelry. In a word, whether male or female, startling hair, excessive make-up, a lot of jewelry, thick perfume may have a bad effect on the image of business professionals and send a wrong signal to foreign traders.3.2 Meeting etiquetteMeeting is an important activity in business negotiation. Meeting etiquette mainly includes the introduction etiquette and handshake etiquette. The order of presentation is generally ladies first, and then the high position. It is usually called “Ladies”, “Miss” and “Sir”. Chinese have a word called “comrade”, but in some western countries, it means “homosexual”. In order to avoidmisunderstanding, this term should be banned in business negotiation.Handshake is not only one of the most commonly used gifts for Chinese, but also for international communication. Handshake seems to be a simple action. However, this behavior relates to individual and the company’image. What’s more, it will impact on the negotiations.The strength of shaking is quite different in different counties. In China, it is generally moderate. While in western countries, they prefer strong handshakes. And too weak handshakes will be considered that they don’t have confidence.The time is also very important. It should not be too long or too short. The international standard is about three seconds. The sequence is lady first. If there are many people in the party, you should search for the right object to avoid cross handshaking.In some countries, they do not shake hands when they meet. For example, The French general with shaking hands for ritual, the young girl are often done curtsy to women. Between women and men, two women, they often to kiss each other check instead of to shake hands.There has a custom in France, which when two men meet each other, they kiss other’s check in general. I n America, they kiss each other with hug. While in most African countries, they usually use body to say hello, and put hands on the shoulders of the guests for a long time. So meeting etiquette should be considered in different cultures.3.3 Negotiation EtiquetteNegotiation etiquette can be divided into language etiquette and non-verbaletiquette. Language is the exchange of information of human symbolic systems. Negotiating language should be both appropriate and courteous. In addition, non-verbal communication is not to convey meaning through the oral language, but from body language. Non-verbal rituals, including ritual gaze, facial expression etiquette, gesture rituals and silent etiquette. Non-verbal etiquette is a real art, because different countries have different cultures. For instance, in China, US and Canada, nodding means “agree”, however, in Bulgaria and Nepal, it means “do not agree” and in Japan, it just mean “understanding” but not mean “consent”.Let us look at an example of British businessman in Iran: In this month, everything is successful and he gets along well with colleagues in Iran and respects the traditions of Islam to avoid any explosive political words. After he signed the contact, he gave his colleague of Persia the thumbs up. Almost immediately, an official of Iran left the room. The British businessman couldn’t understand what happened and his Iranian masters also felt embarrassed and didn’t know how to explain it. The fact is that in England, a thumbs-up is the symbol of agreement and means “excellent”. However, in Iran, it means negation and dissatisfaction and it’s a rude action.3.4 Gift EtiquetteGiving gift can not only deepen feelings and promote relations with customers, but also offend all kinds of taboos because of cultural differences. Wine gifts are very popular in France, especially red wine and white wine. Butthey are banned goods in Arab countries. Americans and Europeans think highly of the meanings of gifts, not value. They think that if the price of gifts are too high, it may have suspicions of bribes. However, in Asia, Africa, and Latin America regions, it is not popular if the gifts are too cheap.Let’s look at an example: Some Chinese businessmen went to purchase chemical equipment and technology about 30 million dollars. So American representatives tried their best to meet Chinese businessmen’s requirements. After the first round of talks, Americans gave Chinese small souvenirs. The souvenirs packaging is particular. It’s a beautiful red box and red means “fortune”. But when Chinese people opened the box happily, their faces turned into embarrassment. The gift is a golf cap, but the color is green. The next day, Chinese businessmen found an excuse to leave the company. Why Chinese people felt unnatural? Because in China, people with a green cap means they are cuckolded. It’s the biggest taboo to Chinese men.4. ConclusionWith the rapid development of our society, more and more competitions arise in business. People usually increase business negotiation to get opportunities and cooperation.Business negotiation is a challenging communication activity, which requires the parties to recognize the truth, identify the purpose, and master the negotiating essentials. Business negotiation can deepen the ability of understanding to make better communication and cooperation. Negotiation etiquette is an indispensable part during the businessnegotiation. But due to the cultural differences, the negotiation etiquette is different. As a successful negotiator, no matter what kind of culture we face, an appropriate etiquette is significant and meaningful. In a word, we should be familiar with different cultures and customs of all countries and make full preparation before the negotiation to avoid embarrassment and misunderstanding.Appendix 1Reference resources:[Cheng, S.]成思危，2003，《如何掌握商务礼仪》，北京：北京大学出版社。