Every businessman, no matter what he does, at least once in his life, but is faced with business negotiations. It can be negotiations with suppliers, with contractors, with potential business partners or even with competitors. In fact, it does not matter with whom you will conduct a business conversation, it is important how you conduct it.
The general result of the negotiations and the further promotion of the business depends on your behavior, on your ability to analyze the situation, on certain knowledge.
Business conversation: what, how and why?
If you do not want to stay on the same level, but strive to constantly grow, look for new markets, new partners and investors, then negotiations will become an integral part of your business life. How to conduct a business conversation, what needs to be done, and what is better to avoid?
That’s what we’ll talk about today. In our article, we will reveal 7 simple, but very effective tips and tricks, using which you can properly conduct a business conversation, and not look silly in the eyes of your interlocutor.
Business conversation: 7 tips and tricks
1. Write down
The first rule you must remember for life. Be sure to come to business negotiations with a notebook or some kind of tablet. All that will be discussed you should take notes. I’m not saying that you need to write down everything directly, but the thesis is basic.
Often negotiations last for hours, and in the end it is hard to remember what was discussed at the beginning of the conversation.
And if you do not record, then after a couple of days with difficulty remember one tenth of what we talked about.
By writing down the words of the interlocutor, you also show your interest. A person sees that you are not just “serving a room”, but listening carefully, trying to catch his thoughts and words.
2. Do not show off
Going to a business meeting, do not wear all the most beautiful and expensive things that are in your wardrobe. Of course, it’s right that they are met by clothes, but escorted by the mind, no one has yet canceled. But you shouldn’t show off too much, because you don’t know how your business interlocutor will react to this. It is better to dress in the first meeting with restraint, not defiantly.
First of all, you should impress with your knowledge and understanding of the matter, and not with a beautiful suit and expensive watch. In the future, if everything goes well, and you recognize the person closer, you can already afford such tricks, because you will be perceived differently from the position of your professional qualities.
3. Gifts at the end
If you decide to give some gifts or souvenirs to the participants of the meeting, it is advisable to do this at the very end. Why is that? Why not do it first, thereby improving their impression of you?
But how do you know how a person will treat a gift? Someone may perceive it normally, someone is generally indifferent, but many may think that this is some kind of vulgarity and desire for manipulation.
Such a step can bring more negative than positive. Therefore, it is better to play it safe, and if you have already decided to give something, then do it after.
4. Turn off the phone
You had such a thing that you are speaking, getting into a courage, telling something, trying to convey your thoughts and vision of the situation, concentrate all the attention of your listeners on yourself, and are ready to move on to the most important thing, as it is a call mobile phone.
An unpleasant screech distracts you from the thought, the attention of the audience is scattered and the moment is lost. Therefore, before any business conversation, turn off the phone. Even if you know that no one will call you, then according to the law of meanness it is at the most serious moment that someone accidentally dials your number. If you are not the President of the company or the senior manager, then any call can wait half an hour or an hour.
5. Control behavior
Watch yourself and your reactions. Very often, we do not notice how we begin to make fatal mistakes. Look at the ceiling, play with a pen, draw something on the fields of a notebook. You may not see this, but the interlocutor will perfectly notice such “nonsense”, draw conclusions, and are unlikely to want to have any serious business relations with a person who did not bother to listen to him.
Therefore, always control what you are doing. Concentrate on the moment, on the topic of conversation, listen carefully and follow the interlocutor. Of course, you don’t need to look at the hole in it with your eyes, but you should not ignore it either.
6. Preparation
Any business conversation requires preliminary preparation. If you consider yourself a super speaker, you are perfectly versed in the topic and decided not to cook at all, then this is a very big mistake. Even the greatest speakers are getting ready, and tens of times harder than you can imagine.
Why do you think Apple presentations are so interesting and exciting? Why could people listen to Steve Jobs for hours and adequately perceive everything he said? That’s right, because it was a great show that was rehearsed and chased more than once. Steve himself admitted that he carefully prepared for each speech, for each speech, wrote down his words and repeated them again and again.
Bottom Line
You must behave too. Write down what you will be talking about. Spy on your plan, try to maximize each thesis, bring your message to the listener.
