4 things you need to know before negotiating

Today, we are not talking about negotiating skills, but about the preparation for foreign trade negotiations. The focus of foreign trade negotiations are generally on the price issue, you should set your own boundaries before you negotiate. In short, the preparatory work before the negotiations for the subsequent negotiations play a crucial role.

After e-mail and telephone communications, if we and suppliers face-to-face negotiations, which means that our intention to cooperate is obvious. Therefore, the success or failure of the negotiations almost determine whether we cooperate with this supplier, the importance of the negotiations can be seen.

The preparatory work before the negotiation has played a key role in the smooth negotiation. The preparatory work can be carried out in the following aspects:

• First, Know yourself and the enemy. Not only do you need to fully analyze your own situation, but you also need to try to understand your opponent’s situation. In addition to the basic information they have already given you, you can also make your own inquiries, inquire about their strength and other aspects of the situation. As the saying goes, Know yourself and the enemy, and it’s important to do that.
• Second, set limits on concessions. The focus of foreign trade negotiations are generally on the price issue, you should set your own bottle line before you negotiate. Regarding the bottom line setting, must consider the supplier’s capital strength and own profit space comprehensively to set a highest price that you can afford. Set a bottom line price, in the negotiations should also hold this bottom line, once crossed this bottom line, the negotiations should be terminated.
• Third, come up with solutions. You can work out a negotiation strategy by anticipating what problems you might encounter based on what you already know. For every problem there is a detailed solution, and the solution is best in two ways, that is, there is a solution A and B, and even if one of them doesn’t works, there is another solution.
• Finally, prepare the materials for negotiation. When the client is negotiating, you need some written or electronic information to understand the product. You have to be prepared in advance. If you rush to find something while the negotiation is going on, the supplier will think that you are not professional.

In short, the preparatory work before the negotiations play a vital role in the conduct of subsequent negotiations, this step must not be overlooked