Israel: Let's Make a Deal! - Part 2
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Let’s Make a Deal Part 2: Negotiating in Israel
As a foreigner, invest resources in researching your Israeli partner. (Objectives, needs, negotiating style, corporate profile and culture, and previous international business experience). Make sure language will not be a negotiational challenge.
Familiarize yourself with the personalities, experience and corporate positions of your partners. And, if possible and/or necessary, use a local consultant to assist in preliminary research or even during the negotiation itself.
Meet or communicate with your potential partners in an attempt to understand their needs and expectations from the negotiation (as opposed to your own private research). You may even request a “declaration of intent” in document form.
Plan your negotiating positions and strategy in advance based on your business requirements and results of your research. Provide the other side with an agenda clearly defining the purpose of the negotiation. If applicable, plan the physical environment for the negotiation process (rooms, meals, seating etc.).
Always highlight and reiterate the advantages and rewards, short and long term, which will result from a successful conclusion of the negotiative process. Increase value and incentive levels in order to secure concessions.
Use empathy to your advantage. Limit the amount of de-motivating elements such as control and dictation, creative limitation and reduced significance, and make concessions on secondary issues that may be important to your Israeli counterparts.
Israelis will seldom lose composure during negotiations and will usually prefer compromise in order to achieve a favorable result. In the rare occasions where negotiations become testy, suggest a cooling-off adjournment, relocate to a more informal environment, suggest a comprehensive re-analysis of obstacles or use a mutually agreed-upon mediator.
In exceptionally challenging situations judiciously leverage your position, experience and corporate clout as a negotiative mechanism. Subdivide the negotiative process into distinctive issues, isolate the contentious issues and address each issue on an individual basis putting aside items that have already been agreed upon. Use allies, either foreign or Israeli, to exert influence on the opposite party.
It is always advisable to draw up a contract or MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) when negotiations are finalized and agreement has been reached. Contracts should be worded in English and should be comprehensive and clear. Conditions and stipulations should be spelled out concisely in plain, easily readable language. Foreigners should try to have contracts stipulate that any legal proceedings occur in the guest’s home country.
