Face To Face Negotiation

Almost every modern business deal is made using some kind of electronic medium. Negotiations don’t happen face-to-face at the bargaining table anymore. They happen over Skype, Slack, and email.

But while this type of negotiation might seem like a recent phenomenon, it’s actually been around for a very long time—since the invention of written language and formal contracts.

Some people have argued that this shift to impersonal forms of negotiation has led to a decline in empathy among negotiators because we can hide behind our screens and refuse to share facial expressions with each other.

Others, however, have suggested that the ability to use technology to negotiate remotely actually leads to better deals and better outcomes for people.

Face-to-face negotiations are more effective?

For example, researcher Linda Babcock has looked at a variety of negotiation studies using fMRI brain scans. She found that when people negotiate face-to-face, there’s a lot more activity in the part of their brains associated with empathy. When you do a deal remotely over email or the phone, there’s less activity in this part of your brain—meaning there’s less empathy.

This is why you’re often able to conclude a good deal more quickly when you get in the same room with people. The catch-22 is this: There’s definitely an advantage to having better negotiators, but what really matters is how you negotiate.

Here are six strategies that can help you get a better outcome when doing a remote negotiation.

1) Make sure to use your voice as much as possible

Understanding and empathizing with your negotiating partner requires listening on both sides of the conversation. When you use your voice as much as possible, you’ll be able to pick up on emotions, body language, and stress levels.

2) Make sure to sit across from them

While you might have an advantage when working remotely if you’re sitting at a laptop or PC, there are many situations where that isn’t the case. For example, if there are several people who will negotiate with each other, having everyone sit together can make it more difficult to get more information by observing body language and facial expressions. However, a good rule of thumb is to sit across from each person.

3) When you do talk, use more than one-word answers

There’s a big difference between short and vague responses and longer, higher quality responses. Very short answers, such as “Yes” or “No,” might be fine for email or phone, but if you really want to get a good outcome from your remote negotiating partner, you need to be more substantive. Your best bet is to avoid using single words when talking about what needs to happen for the negotiation to end in a win or loss for everyone. Instead, you should use more than one-word answers. For example, you might say “I want a win for all parties” or “We need to find a win-win.”

4) Focus on the emotions of your negotiation partner and consider how your proposal might affect them

When doing a remote negotiation, it’s important to think about what your negotiating partner is feeling throughout the conversation. Are they stressed? Are they happy? Are they withholding information? Pay attention to their body language and facial expressions, because if you do get them into a state of emotional suppression, it will make it much harder for them to reveal what they know or don’t know about the situation.

5) If you’re running out of time, move things forward and ask them to summarize

If you decide that the conversation is slowing down or getting stuck and that time is running out, you might need to be more proactive in order to move things forward. For example, you might ask them to summarize their position so that you can give a response. If you do this enough times, your negotiation partner will quickly understand what kind of behaviors are likely to get results with you. You can also tell them how much time they have left on the clock so they know they need to speed up their process.

6) Use your own facial expressions to help them keep the negotiation moving forward

If you’re using text-based mediums such as email, instant message, or Skype, it’s important to use your own facial expressions in order to convey feelings and emotions that might be hard to communicate otherwise. For example, if you are thinking about something or if you are feeling happy about their position, smile and make eye contact with them. On the other hand, if you feel frustrated or angry about what they’re saying, frown and look away. Over time this will help them understand how they can build trust with you so that they better understand what it will take for them to reach a win-win outcome.

Summary

Whether you’re negotiating for a better deal or just trying to get a client to pay for your services, the best way to negotiate over the Internet is to use your voice as much as possible, sit across from them, and respond with more than one-word answers. In addition to using your voice appropriately, you need to pay attention to their emotions and pick up on how certain statements are affecting them. The final tip we have is that if you run out of time and can’t move things forward quickly enough, you should be proactive by summarizing your position and asking them what they want. By following these six tips you’ll be able to get a better result in your next remote negotiation.

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This post originally appeared at eConsultant.com, an online community helping professionals be more productive and effective with the tools they use everyday.

Image by Photograph by James Breeden on Unsplash

Face To Face Negotiation

Face To Face Negotiation

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