You have to negotiate a contract with a businessperson from France. How will you approach them?
Meetings are more important than ever in business today. Just like any other international business behavior, respect for the national business culture will improve my chances of achieving my objectives in France. In addition, when deciding on the contents of the meeting and the appropriate negotiation strategies should be based on the cultural habits and customs of France.
i. Starts with the way I conduct my business meetings should be arranged at least two weeks in advance and prepare an advisable agenda in advance to ensure each one in my team is ready. The facilities for this negotiation require a sense of art and a dual language (English and France) business card is a great opportunity for me to show my attention to detail.
ii. Presentations should be well-prepared, comprehensive, clear, well-written, informative, presented professionally, and appealing to the intellect of the French.
iii. State my business intentions directly and clearly with a detailed agenda. The French counterparts need time to build trust in my company. So, I don't want to make them confused. I know that they do have a habit of direct and probing questions, so I am not going to offend them. Also, I should offer my plans for a carefully considered proposal.
iv. The French like a full understanding of the logic behind your proposal since they prefer to focus on the long-term goals. Therefore, I must have considered long-term goals in my proposal. The French may judge me on my ability to demonstrate my intellectual faculties and this would usually mean discussing polar views. So, I have to reason and make myself clear to earn their respect. As long as I can justify my views this will help the France to see that I am well prepared as well as serious about my intentions.
v. Even though the French are happy to be convinced of my new ideas after the debate, they are not likely to accept anything that deviates from their cultural norms. Therefore, I have to learn some basic French phrases and use them properly in the negotiation. I think that my French language efforts will be much appreciated and remembered.
vi. It is entitled by law that many French employees take several weeks off in the summer. Some companies even close operations for the entire month of August. Therefore, I need to take this into account when planning my business trips to France. In France, meetings are held to discuss issues, not to make decisions, and normally do not hold meetings in bars or cafes. So, I have to decide whether where should I hold this negotiation. In the negotiations, I must focus on the subject matter of the deal I am discussing and get prepared to answer direct and detailed questions.
vii. When conducting business negotiations with my French counterparts, I am very likely to come across centralized decision-making, and obviously, it takes some time.
viii. Let them know I have identified and managed all the risks. The main way to persuade them to change the possible different viewpoint is through the use of logical reasoning. So, my logical reasoning must be strong enough.
ix. In France, even if I have signed a contract, there is a chance that they will come back to re-negotiate it as a result of internal negotiations. So, I should always try and seek out the top decision-maker to reduce discussions with intermediaries. However, I think treating those intermediaries with respect, can still help me to reach a positive outcome.
In summary, I think the approaches I mentioned above is following Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion which are reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, and consensus. Understand these six principles can be an advantage when trying to persuade others to take a specific action or buy a specific product. For instance, the facilities for this negotiation require a sense of art, and a dual language (English and France) business card is trying to do the principle of liking. If they liked me, my chance to reach a positive outcome is greater. Presentations should be well-prepared, comprehensive, clear, well-written, informative, presented professionally, and appealing to the intellect of the French, is trying to do the authority and consistency.
How does the French communication pattern and listening habit differ from my own culture?
Overall, presentations all should be well-prepared, comprehensive, clear, well-written, informative, and presented professionally. However, employees in Taiwan do not take several weeks off in the summer, not to mention close operations for the entire month of August. Although centralized decision-making happens regularly in Taiwan, it is not as common as in France.
Reference
Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion: A Simple Summary. The World of Work Project. (2021, April 15). https://worldofwork.io/2019/07/cialdinis-6-principles-of-persuasion/.
Meeting etiquette. Business Culture. (2013, October 22). https://businessculture.org/western-europe/business-culture-in-france/meeting-etiquette-in-france/.
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