Almost every business deal requires a strategy for a successful business negotiation, whether the deal involves an acquisition, a lease, a sale agreement, or other commercial transaction. And being successful in negotiations can make a meaningful difference for the success of your business and career. But I have seen countless mistakes made in negotiations, so I have compiled some practical tips in this article.
几乎所有的商业交易都需要成功的谈判策略,无论交易中涉及收购,租赁,销售协议还是其他的业务往来。成功的谈判可以对事业的成功造成意义重大的影响。但是,我在谈判中看到的错误不计其数,所以在这篇文章中汇编了一些实用的小建议。

1.Listen and understand the other party’s issues and point of view.

1.听听对方的问题和观点。

Some of the worst negotiators I have seen are the ones who do all the talking, seeming to want to control the conversation and expound endlessly on the merits of their position. The best negotiators tend to be the ones who truly listen to the other side, understand their key issues and hot buttons, and then formulate an appropriate response. Try to gain an understanding about what is important to the other side, what limitations they may have, and where they may have flexibility. Refrain from talking too much.
我所看到的一些最糟糕的谈判代表是那些总是言之滔滔的人,他们似乎想掌控话语权,并不断地阐述他们所处立场的优点。最好的谈判者往往是真正倾听对方,了解对方的关键问题和敏感点,然后给出适当的回应。尝试了解对方看重什么,他们又受限于什么条件,以及他们在哪些地方可以有灵活性。切忌说得太多。
 
2.Be prepared.

2.准备妥当。

Being prepared entails a whole host of things you may need to do, such as:
Review and understand thoroughly the business of the other party by reviewing their website, their press releases, articles written about their company, and so forth. A thorough Google and LinkedIn search is advisable here.
Review the background of the person you are negotiating with by reviewing any bio on the company’s site, the person’s LinkedIn profile, and by doing a Web search.
Review what similar deals have been completed by the other side, and the terms thereof. For public companies, some of their prior agreements may be filed with the SEC.
Understand the offerings and pricings from competitors of the party you are negotiating with.
准备妥当包括完成一系列你可能需要做的事情,例如:
彻底了解对方的业务,可以通过审查对方的公司网站,发布的信息,关于他们公司的文章等。建议进行详尽的谷歌和领英搜索。
审查当下谈判人的背景资料,可以通过查看公司网站上的个人简历,该人的领英个人资料以及进行网页搜索他的个人信息。
审查对方已完成的类似交易及其条款。对于上市公司,他们之前的一些协议可能还会提交给美国证券交易委员会。
了解对方其他竞争对手的产品和定价。
 
3.Keep the negotiations professional and courteous.

3.保持谈判的专业性和礼貌性。

This is also known as the “don’t be an asshole rule.” Nobody really wants to do business with a difficult or abusive personality. After all, even after the negotiations are concluded, you may want to do business with this person again, or the transaction may require ongoing involvement with the representative of the other side. Establishing a good long-term relationship should be one of the goals in the negotiation. A collaborative, positive tone in negotiations is more likely to result in progress to a closing.
这也被称为“不要做‘混蛋’规则”。没有人真的愿意和个性差又粗俗的人进行合作。毕竟,在这次谈判结束之后,你也可能想再次与这个人做生意,或者交易中可能常常需要对方代表人的参与。所以建立长期良好的关系应该是谈判的目标之一。谈判中合作,积极的态度更有可能促成交易的完成。
 
4.Understand the deal dynamics.

4.了解交易动态。

Understanding the deal dynamics is crucial in any negotiation. So be prepared to determine the following:
Who has the leverage in the negotiation? Who wants the deal more?
What timing constraints is the other side under?
What alternatives does the other side have?
Is the other side going to be getting a significant payment from you? If so, the leverage will tend to be on your side.
了解交易动态在任何谈判中都是至关重要的。所以要准备确定好以下内容:
在谈判中谁起杠杆作用?谁想要更多的交易?
另一方受什么时间限制?
另一方有哪些替代方案?
对方将会从你那儿获得一大笔付款吗?如果是,杠杆将倾向于你这一边。
 
5.Always draft the first version of the agreement.

5.总是起草协议的第一个版本。

An absolutely fundamental principle of almost any negotiation is that you (or your lawyers) should prepare the first draft of the proposed contract. This lets you frame how the deal should be structured, implement key points that you want that haven’t been discussed, and gets momentum on your side. The other party will be reluctant to make extensive changes to your document (unless it is absurdly one sided), and therefore you will have already won part of the battle by starting off with your preferred terms. Having said that, you want to avoid starting the negotiations with an agreement that the other side will never agree to. Balance is key here.
几乎任何谈判都应遵循一个绝对的基本原则,你(或你的律师)应准备拟议合同的初稿。这可以让你安排交易的过程,补充双方尚未讨论的但是是你想要的一些关键点,并为你方赢得主动权。对方肯定也不想对你的文件进行大量更改(除非实在“一边倒”得厉害),因此你将通过首选条款在这场战役里开始小获胜利。话虽如此,你还是应该避免一开始就谈判一个对方永远不会同意的协议,权衡利弊保持平衡是这儿的关键。
 
6. Be prepared to “play poker” and be ready to walk away.

6. 准备好“打扑克”,也准备好扔牌走人。

You must be able to play poker with the other side, and be able to walk away if the terms of the deal aren’t up to your liking. This is easier said than done, but is sometimes critical to get to an end game. Know before you start what your target price or walkaway price is. Be prepared with market data to back up why your price is reasonable, and if you are confronted with an ultimatum that you absolutely can’t live with, be prepared to walk away.
你必须能够与对方玩扑克,如果交易条款不符合你的喜好,也可以一走了之。这件事,说起来容易,做起来难,但是对于结束一场博弈来说,有时候至关重要。开始前,务必明确你的目标价格或最低价。准备好市场数据来支持为什么你的价格是合理的,但是如果你面临的最终提案是你绝对不能接受的,那就准备扔牌走人。
 
7.Avoid the bad strategy of “negotiating by continually conceding.”

7.避免“不断妥协的谈判”这一不良策略。

Ten years ago, a company I was involved with was desperate to sell itself. The CEO was convinced that a certain prospective buyer was the ideal acquirer and he wanted to do the deal with them. But the buyer kept coming up with new unreasonable demands, and the CEO kept giving into those demands in the hopes of getting to a closing. So what did the buyer do? It learned that it could just keep asking for more unreasonable things, and that the CEO would always eventually cave.
Nine months and $1 million in legal fees later, the company still didn’t have a deal. I then took over the negotiations and told the buyer that we were no longer interested in the terms they had been proposing, and we were walking away unless the price and deal terms got much better for us. By that time, the buyer itself had expended a great deal of legal fees and management time to get to a deal, and they panicked at the prospect of losing the deal. So they conceded to virtually every point I wanted, including an increased purchase price, and we closed the deal in 45 days. So the lesson was that continually conceding points (while not getting anything in return) can lead to the exact opposite of what you are hoping for. If you are conceding a point, make sure to try and get something in return.
十年前,我所在的一家公司急于转让。这家公司的首席执行官确信某位潜在买家是理想的收购方,所以他很想与他们达成协议。但买家不断提出不合理的要求,而那个执行官为了促成交易结束,不断做出退让。那么买家做了什么呢? 他们知道,他们还可以不断提出更多的不合理的要求,而那个执行官最终总会妥协。
九个月之后,耗费了一百万美元的法律费用,我们公司还没有达成交易。随后,我接手了谈判的任务,并告诉买方,我们不再对他们提出的条款感兴趣。除非他们提高价格和改善交易条件,否则我们将放弃合作。当时买家本就花费了大量的法律费用和时间来和我们谈生意,他们想到可能会失去交易而感到恐慌不已。所以他们几乎接受了我方想要的每一个要求,包括提高购买价格,我们也在45天内结束了交易。因此我的经验是,持续的妥协(在没有得到任何回报的情况下)可能会导致结果与你所希望的完全相反。如果你让了一步,请务必试着去获得回报。
 
8.Keep in mind that time is the enemy of many deals.

8.请记住:时间是许多交易的敌人。

You have to understand that the longer a deal takes to get completed, the more likely that something will occur to derail it. So be prompt at responding, get your lawyer to turn documents around quickly, and keep the deal momentum moving. However, that doesn’t mean you should rush through negotiations and make concessions that you don’t need to make. Understand when time is on your side and when time could be your real enemy.
你必须明白,完成交易需要的时间越长,越容易导致交易发生意外。所以要及时回应,让你的律师快速转交文件,保持交易的势头持续向前。但是,这并不意味着你要匆匆忙忙地谈判和做出不必要的让步。弄清楚在什么时候时间有利于你,而什么时候时间将会成为你真正的敌人。
 
9.Don’t fixate on the deal in front of you and ignore alternatives.

9.不要只拘泥于你面前的交易而忽略了其他替代方案。

In many situations you want to have competitive alternatives. This can enhance your negotiating position and allow you to make the best decision as to how to proceed. For example, if you are engaging in a process to sell your company, the best thing you can do is to have several potential bidders at the table. You want to avoid being locked up into exclusive negotiations with one bidder until you have reached a meeting of the minds as to the best price and terms available. Similarly, if you are looking to buy a product, lease office space, or acquire a loan for your business, you will often be better off if you have alternatives—and the other party knows it has viable competitors. By negotiating simultaneously with two or more parties, you can often obtain better pricing or better contractual terms.
在许多情况下,你希望有许多有竞争力的可选方案。这可以增强您的谈判地位,并允许你就交易进程做出最好的决定。例如,如果你正要销售你的公司,那么最好的办法就是让几个潜在的投标人坐一桌上。直到和所有人交谈并了解最佳价格和条款前,你应该避免被一个投标人锁定在一家谈判中。同样地,如果你想购买产品,租赁办公空间或为业务申请贷款,如果有多个选择,你的境遇自然好上许多——当然另一方需要知道他们存在强有力的竞争对手。 通过同时与两个或更多方进行谈判,你通常可以获得更好的报价或更好的合同条款。
 
10.Don’t get hung up on one issue.

10. 不要执着于某一个问题。

You want to avoid getting stuck on a seemingly intractable issue. Sometimes it’s best to suggest that an issue be set aside for the moment and both parties move on to make progress on other issues. A creative solution may come to you later outside the heat of the negotiation.
你应该要避免被一个看似棘手的问题困住。有时候,最好的办法是将这个问题暂时搁置,双方在其他问题上进行协商取得进展。或许在谈判的热潮之后,一个创造性的解决方案就会出现在你的脑中。
 
11.Identify who the real decision-maker is.

11.确定谁是真正的决策者。

You want to understand what kind of authority the other person that you are negotiating with has. Is he or she the ultimate decision-maker? I recently went through a long and fruitless set of negotiations with a person who kept telling me that he didn’t have the authority to agree to a number of points we were negotiating. He could tell me “no” to my requests but didn’t have the ability to tell me “yes.” My solution (because I had leverage) was that I ended the conversation and said that for us to make any progress, I needed to negotiate with the person who was authorized to make decisions and concessions.
你应该知道你对面的谈判人有什么样的权力。他或她是最终的决策者吗?我最近经历了一场漫长而无果的谈判,那个人不断地告诉我,他没有权力同意我们正在谈判的一些事情。 他可以拒绝我的要求,但却没有资格同意我的要求。我的解决方案则是(因为交易中我更占优势)结束当前谈判并表明双方若想取得进展,我必须得与有能力做决定和让步的人进行协商。
 
12.Never accept the first offer.

12.永远不要接受首次报价。

It’s often a mistake to accept the first offer from the other side. For example, if you are selling your home and you receive an offer, consider countering at a higher price or better terms (even if there are no other offers). If you don’t counter, the other party will be concerned that they offered too much and may end up with buyer’s remorse and attempt to get out of the deal. And buyers expect that there will be a counter as they expect that their first offer will likely be rejected. Most buyers will leave room in their first offer to go up by at least 5%-15% in price, depending on the situation. Counter-offers and some back-and-forth negotiation will most likely lead to the two parties being satisfied that they struck the best deal they could, and thus be more committed to closing the deal.
接受另一方的首次报价通常是错误的。举个例子,如果你正在出售房屋并收到了一个报价,考虑一下要求对方提高价格或提供更好的条款(就算没有其他人进行报价)。 如果你对价格没有异议,另一方将担心他们给的太多,很有可能会后悔开出的条件,并试图摆脱这笔交易。买家预想得到卖家会还价,就像第一次报价很可能会被驳回。根据不同的情况,大多数买家会在首次报价上留有空间,价格至少能上升5%-15%。反复还价和来回地谈判最有可能让双方感到满意,因为他们彼此认为已经达成了最好的协议,从而也更坚定地完成这项交易。
 
13.Ask the right questions.

13.提出正确的问题。

Don’t be afraid to ask the other party many questions. The answers can be informative for the negotiations. Depending on the type of deal, you could ask:
Is this the best pricing or offer you can give me?
What assurances do I get that your product or solution will actually work for me?
Who are your competitors? How do their products compare?
What else can you throw in to the deal without cost to us? (A particularly useful question to ask car dealers.)
What is your desired timing for the deal?
How does our deal benefit you?
We want to avoid unreasonable forms of contracts or unreasonable lawyers on your end. How do we ensure that?
不要害怕问对方很多问题。这些答案可以为接下来的谈判提供许多信息。根据不同的交易类型,你可以问:
这是你能给我的最佳定价或优惠吗?
有什么可以保证你的产品或解决方案适用于我们公司?
你们的竞争对手是谁?他们的产品相较起来如何?
在不损失我方利益的情况下,你们还可以给出怎样的有利条件? (这个问题询问汽车经销商特别有效)
你期望的交易时间是什么时候?
我们的交易对你方效益如何?
我们希望避免你方不合理的合同形式或不讲道理的律师。我们该如何确保这个要求?
 
14.Prepare a Letter of Intent or Term Sheet to reflect your deal.

14.准备一份相关交易的意向书或条款表。

It is often helpful, at the appropriate time, to prepare a Letter of Intent or Term Sheet to reflect your view of the key terms of a deal. This can help expedite getting to an agreement, save on legal costs, and continue the momentum for a deal. It is more informal than a definitive agreement and easier to reach agreement on. For example, Letters of Intent are often prepared and agreed to in connection with mergers and acquisitions (see Negotiating an Acquisition Letter of Intent). And here are some good sample forms to review that can help you draft such a document:
A letter of intent for a joint venture
A term sheet for leasing office space
A venture capital term sheet
A term sheet for investment by a strategic investor
A term sheet for selling the company, favorable to the seller
An acquisition letter of intent, favorable to the buyer
在适当的时候准备一份意向书或术语表通常有助于反映你对关键交易条款的看法。这有助于加快达成协议,节省法律费用,并保持交易的势头。比起最终协议,意向书稍欠正式,却有助于达成协议。例如,在并购时经常会准备意向书并被认可接受(参见谈判收购意向书)。 这里有一些很好的表格样本,可以帮助你起草类似的文件:
合资企业意向书
租赁办公空间术语表
风险投资条款表
战略投资者投资的期限表
出售公司的条款表,利于卖方
收购意向书,利于买方
 
15.Get the help of the best advisors and lawyers.

15.获得最好的顾问和律师的帮助。

If it’s a big or complicated deal, you want real expertise on your side helping you in the negotiations and drafting the contract. For example, if you are selling your company, it is usually worth the money to hire an investment banker who knows your industry and has relationships with prospective buyers. If you are doing a real estate deal, you want an experienced real estate attorney who has done many deals like the one you are working on (and not a general practitioner lawyer). If you are doing an M&A transaction, you want a lawyer that has done 50 or 100 M&A deals (and not a general business lawyer). These advisors don’t come cheap, but are worth it if you get the right one.
如果这是一笔很大的交易而且还很复杂,你需要真正的专业人士帮助你谈判和起草合同。比如,如果你要出售你的公司,通常合算的做法是雇用一个了解你所处的行业并与潜在买家有联系的投资银行家。如果你正在做房地产交易,你应该要找一个经验丰富已经做过很多类似交易的房地产律师(而不是一个所有方面都涉及的律师)。如果你正在处理并购交易,你需要一个已经完成50或100起并购交易的律师(而不是一般商业律师)。这些顾问并不便宜,但要是你找到正确的人,一切都是值得的。
 
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