I'm in corporate communications, where Iâm often trying to sway others in the company about appropriate word choice for publications or specific messaging in speeches, and in both cases the details are key.
I feel confident in my negotiation capabilities when I'm speaking one-on-one and in person. But via email, I find it harder to incorporate some of those connection points without seeming trite, especially when the issues are complex.
Unfortunately, many of the individuals I'm negotiating with are executives with little available time to meet in person or by phone. It's also hard to get multiple players on the phone at once, and we need a written record of our decisions to rely on going forward.
I thought you might have some pointers for these kinds of interactions and how I can best approach the discussion.
âPerplexed Corporate Communicator
Dear Perplexed,
Itâs been 20 years since business people began to use email, and we still havenât figured out a way to avoid most of the trouble it causes.
According to Dr. Randi Gunther, a Southern California clinical psychologist, we risk miscommunicating with one another if we fail to use any one of the five modes of communication: words, tone of voice, touch, posture, and facial expressions.
When talking on the telephone, we adjust what we say not simply in response to the spoken words, but also to the tone with which those words are delivered. Is our business associate demanding and harsh, insistent and directive, cold or warm, doubtful or certain, casual or formal? We more or less naturally adjust our own tone to match the other personâs or to lower it if its temperature seems too high for collaborative problem solving.
But even the telephone misses the full expression of our ideas. When we talk on the phone, we miss body language and facial expressions, both of which can convey doubt when weâre stressing our certainty, resistance when weâre claiming compliance, or humor when weâre avoiding conflict.
Add to these deficits our mutual ignorance of the context in which each party is communicating, and you have what Professor Raymond A. Freidman at the Owen Graduate School of Management calls a âprofoundly asocial conversation.â
Thatâs the bad news.
The good news is that âwords aloneâ are capable of communicating context and tone as well as empathy, passion, curiosity, and doubt. Were it not so, we wouldnât have cried when our parents read us Bambi, wouldnât feel angry when we read about the most recent ethnic cleansing, and wouldnât laugh while reading a humorous column in our Facebook feed. It just takes a little more care.
Here are just a few of the ways we can add the appropriate tone, texture, context, and emotion to negotiations conducted by emailâwith a sample script that you can adapt to fit your own situation.
1. Set the Stage and Bring Feeling Into the Conversation
Dear Sandra,
I just returned from medical leave (a tough assignment or a pleasant weekend with my family). It feels good to be in the office again even though my inbox is overflowing.
2. Express Empathy While Taking Your Bargaining Partnersâ Pulse
I assume youâre buried with work since Larry left the firm (or you were appointed to the management committee). Still, I wanted to get back to you as soon a possible about the messaging issue we talked about (last week or before I went on vacation).
I donât want to add to your burdens but was hoping we might find time to chat briefly about the major issues we have yet to resolve. If thatâs not possible, we can certainly try to come to a final decision via email.
RELATED: The 23 Unwritten Rules of Email
3. Mention the Feelings that Business Communications Usually Lack
Iâve been struggling to find a way that helps both of us achieve our goals. Frankly, Iâm feeling a bit frustrated by my own failure to articulate my viewpoint in a more compelling way. You may be feeling similarly vexed by our lack of progress.
According to Article 2, section 1 of the Constitution, the President shall hold his office for the term of how many years? How many electoral votes does it take to win a presidential election? Which constitutional amendment changed the election of the Vice-President to a party. A congress can control the bureaucracy of all of the following except:. Which agency in the federal bureaucracy established a color-coded security. The following contribute to the negative perception of government bureaucracy? Terms in this set (50). Which of the following contributes to the negative perception of government bureaucracy? Lack of effective interagency communication.
4. Stress Your Confidence That You Can Find a Solution That Pleases You Both
Iâm pretty sure there are an infinite number of ways to skin this particular cat. I donât doubt we can do again what weâve always managed to do beforeâsatisfy both our needs (desires, preferences, priorities)âif we spend enough time brainstorming the issues.
5. Make Suggestions, Ask Questions, and Include More Details to Draw Your Bargaining Partner Into Problem-Solving Mode
Iâm attaching a memo that includes possible solutions suggested by your team and mine, as well as a couple of new possibilities Iâd like you to consider. If Iâve left anything off this list, please let me know. I donât want you to think that Iâm unwilling to consider one or more of your concerns.
RELATED: An Editor's Guide to Writing Ridiculously Good Emails
6. Donât Be Afraid to Mention Your Own Doubt
Although I continue to believe in my proposals, Iâm certainly willing to talk about the flaws you see in them and reconsider the solutions you suggested when last we spoke.
7. Close by Stressing a High Degree of Confidence in Your Ability to Find a Mutually Beneficial Solution
I continue to respect your commitment to producing the best work in the industry and our ability to create the best messaging campaign to get that work into our customerâs hands.
RELATED: How to Respond to Emails on Your Phone Infinitely Faster
In short, bring as much of your own personality, tempered emotion, respect for your negotiation partner, and optimism about your ability to reach agreement as you can. The more you mimic âreal lifeâ conversation in an email, the less room there will be for suspicion and misunderstanding. This sample conversation leaves a lot of room for your bargaining partner to seek clarification, ask questions, and make additional suggestions. That alone should avoid misunderstandings leading to impasse.
I have no reason to doubt that you are, as you say, good at one-on-one and in-person negotiation. Incorporate into your email whatever qualities you bring to those bargaining sessions, whether they be likeability, authority, clarity, concern for your bargaining partnerâs well-being, shared values, or top-notch problem solving skills.
Good luck with your particular challenges, and please feel free to write back to us for more detail, a better explanation, or a report about the success of new skills youâve put to work in your emailed negotiations.
This article was originally published on The Daily Muse.
Victoria Pynchon is an attorney who practiced commercial litigation for 25 years.
Photo of tablet courtesy of Shutterstock.'>
Dear Negotiators,
I feel confident in my negotiation capabilities when I'm speaking one-on-one and in person. But via email, I find it harder to incorporate some of those connection points without seeming trite, especially when the issues are complex.
Unfortunately, many of the individuals I'm negotiating with are executives with little available time to meet in person or by phone. It's also hard to get multiple players on the phone at once, and we need a written record of our decisions to rely on going forward.
I thought you might have some pointers for these kinds of interactions and how I can best approach the discussion.
âPerplexed Corporate Communicator
Dear Perplexed,
Itâs been 20 years since business people began to use email, and we still havenât figured out a way to avoid most of the trouble it causes.
According to Dr. Randi Gunther, a Southern California clinical psychologist, we risk miscommunicating with one another if we fail to use any one of the five modes of communication: words, tone of voice, touch, posture, and facial expressions.
When talking on the telephone, we adjust what we say not simply in response to the spoken words, but also to the tone with which those words are delivered. Is our business associate demanding and harsh, insistent and directive, cold or warm, doubtful or certain, casual or formal? We more or less naturally adjust our own tone to match the other personâs or to lower it if its temperature seems too high for collaborative problem solving.
But even the telephone misses the full expression of our ideas. When we talk on the phone, we miss body language and facial expressions, both of which can convey doubt when weâre stressing our certainty, resistance when weâre claiming compliance, or humor when weâre avoiding conflict.
Add to these deficits our mutual ignorance of the context in which each party is communicating, and you have what Professor Raymond A. Freidman at the Owen Graduate School of Management calls a âprofoundly asocial conversation.â
Thatâs the bad news.
The good news is that âwords aloneâ are capable of communicating context and tone as well as empathy, passion, curiosity, and doubt. Were it not so, we wouldnât have cried when our parents read us Bambi, wouldnât feel angry when we read about the most recent ethnic cleansing, and wouldnât laugh while reading a humorous column in our Facebook feed. It just takes a little more care.
Here are just a few of the ways we can add the appropriate tone, texture, context, and emotion to negotiations conducted by emailâwith a sample script that you can adapt to fit your own situation.
1. Set the Stage and Bring Feeling Into the Conversation
Dear Sandra,
I just returned from medical leave (a tough assignment or a pleasant weekend with my family). It feels good to be in the office again even though my inbox is overflowing.
2. Express Empathy While Taking Your Bargaining Partnersâ Pulse
I assume youâre buried with work since Larry left the firm (or you were appointed to the management committee). Still, I wanted to get back to you as soon a possible about the messaging issue we talked about (last week or before I went on vacation).
I donât want to add to your burdens but was hoping we might find time to chat briefly about the major issues we have yet to resolve. If thatâs not possible, we can certainly try to come to a final decision via email.
Writing Business Email Sample
RELATED: The 23 Unwritten Rules of Email
3. Mention the Feelings that Business Communications Usually Lack
Iâve been struggling to find a way that helps both of us achieve our goals. Frankly, Iâm feeling a bit frustrated by my own failure to articulate my viewpoint in a more compelling way. You may be feeling similarly vexed by our lack of progress.
4. Stress Your Confidence That You Can Find a Solution That Pleases You Both
Iâm pretty sure there are an infinite number of ways to skin this particular cat. I donât doubt we can do again what weâve always managed to do beforeâsatisfy both our needs (desires, preferences, priorities)âif we spend enough time brainstorming the issues.
5. Make Suggestions, Ask Questions, and Include More Details to Draw Your Bargaining Partner Into Problem-Solving Mode
Iâm attaching a memo that includes possible solutions suggested by your team and mine, as well as a couple of new possibilities Iâd like you to consider. If Iâve left anything off this list, please let me know. I donât want you to think that Iâm unwilling to consider one or more of your concerns.
RELATED: An Editor's Guide to Writing Ridiculously Good Emails
Dayz standalone single player 2019 movie. 6. Donât Be Afraid to Mention Your Own Doubt
Although I continue to believe in my proposals, Iâm certainly willing to talk about the flaws you see in them and reconsider the solutions you suggested when last we spoke.
How to install project nevada with fomm. 7. Close by Stressing a High Degree of Confidence in Your Ability to Find a Mutually Beneficial Solution
I continue to respect your commitment to producing the best work in the industry and our ability to create the best messaging campaign to get that work into our customerâs hands.
RELATED: How to Respond to Emails on Your Phone Infinitely Faster
In short, bring as much of your own personality, tempered emotion, respect for your negotiation partner, and optimism about your ability to reach agreement as you can. The more you mimic âreal lifeâ conversation in an email, the less room there will be for suspicion and misunderstanding. This sample conversation leaves a lot of room for your bargaining partner to seek clarification, ask questions, and make additional suggestions. That alone should avoid misunderstandings leading to impasse.
I have no reason to doubt that you are, as you say, good at one-on-one and in-person negotiation. Incorporate into your email whatever qualities you bring to those bargaining sessions, whether they be likeability, authority, clarity, concern for your bargaining partnerâs well-being, shared values, or top-notch problem solving skills.
Good luck with your particular challenges, and please feel free to write back to us for more detail, a better explanation, or a report about the success of new skills youâve put to work in your emailed negotiations.
This article was originally published on The Daily Muse.
Victoria Pynchon is an attorney who practiced commercial litigation for 25 years.
Photo of tablet courtesy of Shutterstock.Price Negotiation Letter Sample
Updated September 26, 2017
Updated September 26, 2017
Being offered a job is an exciting experience. Once you are given the details of the benefits and compensation, however, you may not be able to accept the offer without negotiating for a higher salary. Depending on the situation, sometimes it's best to respond to a job offer in writing. Your negotiation letter should be professional and friendly, but not demanding.
Opening
Start your letter by addressing it directly to the person who offered you the job and thanking that person for the opportunity to work at the company. Explain that it is your desire to work for the employer and review why you would benefit the organization. State that, after you both agree on salary and other compensation, you look forward to beginning your career with the company.
Salary
Before continuing your letter, research the salary range for the position in the local area of the employer. Don't make unreasonable requests or demands because you will risk losing the offer altogether. Start a paragraph under your introduction to discuss the salary offered by the company. Explain that the average salary for the position in companies that perform the same function is higher than the offer. Also, if you must relocate and the cost of living is higher near the employer, mention that the salary would not be high enough to support a move. Then state a fair amount that you would like to be paid based on the information you have given.
Other Compensation
Salary is not the only form of compensation offered by companies to attract the best candidate for the job. If the offer consists of a complicated contract, negotiate each point separately in your letter. If it was verbal or a simple letter stating that a compensation package is available, ask to look at the details before you respond. Employer benefits vary greatly, so if specific terms, such as employer contributions to stock options, are important, review the package carefully. Other items you may consider are the ability to telecommute or a bigger office with a window. Any situation that has a significant impact on your performance and income should be discussed before accepting an offer. In addition, if some items are not as important, mention them to use as concessions during your negotiations.
ClosingContract Negotiation Email Example Templates
Close you letter by again thanking the employer for the job offer and for giving you an opportunity to discuss the salary. Acknowledge that you are eager to hear back from the company and hope that you will come to an agreement so that you can start working there soon. If possible, hand-deliver the letter and discuss the highlights in person. The letter can be a reference for the employer to study once you leave, so that all of the points you mention will be addressed in a follow-up letter or discussion.
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