BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS
Business negotiations are mainly about the price and the terms
for supplying goods or services.
In their simplest form they are no more than a haggle between
buyer and seller, much the same as what happens when you
trade in your car for a new one. At their more complex they
concern a package in which a number of extras are on offer along
with the basic product. Sellers can usually offer a range of prices
to suit the needs of the buyer: an ‘ex-works’ price, a delivered
price, an installed price and a price which includes service.
Various methods of staging payments or providing credit may
also be offered.
Negotiations of this type usually start with the buyer
producing a specification. The seller then produces a proposal
and negotiation starts. The seller will have included a negoti-
ating margin in the proposal and will be prepared to vary the
price according to the package required.
Business negotiations are usually conducted in a friendly
manner, and that’s your major problem. You can too easily be
seduced into accepting a less than satisfactory deal by the bland-
ishments of the negotiator.
TRADE UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Trade union negotiations can be much tougher. They may
involve a simple pay settlement, but usually they involve a
package. Extra benefits will be at issue, and can be traded for
concessions if need be.
In this type of negotiation, both parties are probably quite
clear as to the maximum they will give or the minimum they
will accept. They will have predetermined their opening
demands and offers and their shopping list of extras will have
been analysed to determine which points can be conceded in
return for some benefit.
There are a number of bargaining conventions used in union
negotiations, of which the following are the most generally
accepted:
■ Whatever happens during the bargaining, both parties hope
to come to a settlement.
232 How to be an Even Better Manager