OnBusinessNegotiationEtiquetteandSkills

1、On Business Negotiation Etiquette and Skills1. IntroductionWith the development of economy, international communication is becoming moreand more frequent in China and etiquette also becomes an essential part of our social life.Business negotiation is business communication events among enterprises a

2、nd thequality of negotiators will directly affect the success or failure of the negotiation. Thisessay 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 beh

3、aviors among people within an organization groupor 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. T

4、heetiquette of business is the set of written and unwritten rules of conduct that make socialinteractions run more smoothly. Business etiquette is the business etiquette norms.Business etiquette is coordination and communication functions with cohesion emotionalrole.3. Business etiquette skillsBecau

5、se of cultural differences, different countries have different taboos. And in theprocess of business negotiation, we should know their taboos in order to avoidunnecessary misunderstanding and conflict. In a word, during thebusiness negotiation, we should pay attention to the skills of etiquette.3.1

6、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, butalso a basic respect for others. Business has always attached great importance toclothing .Clothing is a merchant

7、key to success. In international business negotiations,clothing is required traditional, dignified and elegant. For men, the general requirement iswearing a suit with a tie. Blue, gray or black is suitable for most countries, even includingattending the negotiating party or watching performances. Fo

8、r women, professional suitis the best choice, which is applicable everywhere in the world. Men should avoid wearinginformal clothing or sportswear. While women avoid wearing too exposed, too tight or tootransparent clothes, and avoid wearing too much jewelry. In a word, whether male orfemale, startl

9、ing hair, excessive make-up, a lot of jewelry, thick perfume may have a badeffect 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 mainlyincludes the introduction etiquet

10、te and handshake etiquette. The order of presentation isgenerally ladies first, and then the high position. It is usually called“Ladies”,“Miss”and“SirChinese have a word called“comrade”, but in some western countries,it means“homosexual”. In order to avoidmisunderstanding, this term should be banned

11、 in business negotiation.Handshake is not only one of the most commonly used gifts for Chinese, but alsofor international communication. Handshake seems to be a simple action. However, thisbehavior relates to individual and the companyimage. Whats more, it will impact on thenegotiations.The strength

12、 of shaking is quite different in different counties. In China, it isgenerally moderate. While in western countries, they prefer strong handshakes. And tooweak handshakes will be considered that they dont have confidence.The time is also very important. It should not be too long or too short. Theint

13、ernational standard is about three seconds. The sequence is lady first. If there aremany people in the party, you should search for the right object to avoid crosshandshaking.In some countries, they do not shake hands when they meet. For example, TheFrench general with shaking hands for ritual, the

14、young girl are often done curtsy towomen. Between women and men, two women, they often to kiss each other checkinstead of to shake hands.There has a custom in France, which when two men meet eachother, they kiss others check in general. I n America, they kiss each other with hug.While in most Africa

15、n countries, they usually use body to say hello, and put hands on theshoulders of the guests for a long time. So meeting etiquette should be considered indifferent cultures.3.3 Negotiation EtiquetteNegotiation etiquette can be divided into language etiquette and non-verbaletiquette. Language is the

16、exchange of information of human symbolic systems.Negotiating language should be both appropriate and courteous. In addition, non-verbalcommunication is not to convey meaning through the oral language, but from bodylanguage. Non-verbal rituals, including ritual gaze, facial expression etiquette, ges

17、turerituals and silent etiquette. Non-verbal etiquette is a real art, because different countrieshave different cultures. For instance, in China, US and Canada, nodding means“agree”,however, in BulgariaandNepal, it means“do not agree”and in Japan, it just mean“understanding”but not mean“consent”.Let

18、 us look at an example of British businessman in Iran: In this month, everythingis successful and he gets along well with colleagues in Iran and respects the traditions ofIslam to avoid any explosive political words. After he signed the contact, he gave hiscolleague of Persia the thumbs up. Almost i

19、mmediately, an official of Iran left the room.The British businessman couldnt understand what happe ned and hisIranian masters also felt embarrassed and didnt 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 n

20、egation and dissatisfaction and its a rudeaction.3.4 Gift EtiquetteGiving gift can not only deepen feelings and promote relations with customers, butalso offend all kinds of taboos because of culturaldifferences. Wine gifts are very popular in France, especially red wine and white wine.Butthey are b

21、anned goods in Arab countries. Americans and Europeans think highly ofthe meanings of gifts, not value. They think that if the price of gifts are too high, it mayhave suspicions of bribes. However, in Asia, Africa, and Latin America regions, it is notpopular if the gifts are too cheap.Lets look at a

22、n example: Some Chinese businessmen went to purchase chemicalequipment and technology about 30 million dollars. So American representatives triedtheir best to meet Chinese businessmensrequirements. After the first round of talks, Americans gave Chinese small souvenirs. Thesouvenirs packaging is particular. Its abeautiful red box and red means“fortune”. But when Chinese peopleopened the box happily, their faces turned into embarrassment. The gift is a golf cap, butthe