Negotiating by Email Plan the Challenges of Conducting Negotiations by Email Improve Your Negotiations By Email

17. Analyse, Analyse, Analyse
One of the key advantages of the written word is that you can take your time. You can analyse. You can reflect. Copy and paste the correspondences into a word file. Let’s say it’s a complex negotiation email. Put a series of row spaces between each paragraph or key point and write in your interpretation.
What are they really saying? What is their tone? Do you spot any soft words? Which stage of the negotiation are you in?
Then, send the file, without your comments to a colleague to do the same. Then compare notes.
18. Don’t Try to Nail It All at Once
If the other party won’t meet face-to-face, don’t try to nail it in one email. Get a ‘conversation’ happening. Remember that most poor negotiators miss the second stage of negotiation, exploration. Finding out what the other party wants. Ask questions and try to get a ‘bat and ball’ going.
19. Summarise Frequently
We see a lot of learners learning negotiation that don’t summarise. This is true of email, phone and, in fact, all forms of negotiation. When they learn the power of summarising they do it. You cannot summarise too much and you don’t need to wait until the negotiation is concluding and you don’t need to agree with what you are saying. Let me explain…
For example, you might write:
‘I’d like to share where we are both at. We have not agreed. I am just summarising where I think we both are. You want abc & are prepared to give def. We would like ghi and are prepared to give jkl. Is this where you think we are up to?’.
Still Struggling and Looking for That Magic Bullet?
A prospect was frustrated that the tips above didn’t offer the magic bullet that she wanted. Our advice is copied below:
“We appreciate it is not easy, but you have to break out of the cycle they are deliberately putting you in. It suits them for you to be compliant with the way they want to trade with you, but it isn’t working for you. We know from other clients that they do not treat all their suppliers this way because some suppliers have managed to successfully show and persuade them that they add more value by being engaged with, rather than treated as a pure trading commodity.