Ah, Hello, Intercongress.

B. – Hello, I called you yesterday regarding the symposium.

A. – Good afternoon, I’m listening to you.

B. – Can you provide us with premises for one hundred thirty to one hundred and forty people?

A. - Yes. We can book a conference room for you with one hundred and fifty seats.

B. – This suits us, thank you. How to rent furniture?

A. – The application must accurately indicate the name of all items and their quantity.

B. – How can I send you an application?

A. – You must send a letter of guarantee to our address. In it you indicate all types of services and their costs.

B. - I see. Can a letter be sent by mail or fax?

B. – And in how many days will you receive it?

A. – The letter usually takes two to three days.

B. – This is quite a long time.

A. – You can send it by express, then it will come to us within two hours.

B. – That’s what we’ll do. Thank you very much for the comprehensive information.

A. - Please. All the best.

The most important mistakes in telephone communication culture.

1. If you dialed the wrong number, do not ask: “Where did I go?”, “What number is this?” Just clarify: “Is this 555–34–56?”

2. You cannot, after picking up the phone and answering, immediately say: “Just a minute” and force the caller to wait while you deal with your business. If you absolutely cannot talk, for example, because you have to answer the door, say: “I will call you back in a few minutes,” and do not forget to fulfill this promise.

3. Do not risk dialing a number from memory if you are not completely sure that you remember it.

4. Don't play a very clever game of "Guess Who?" if your colleagues don't recognize your voice.

5. Don't ask, "What are you doing on Saturday afternoon?" if you want to suggest something to do at that time. This question presupposes a refusal if the interlocutor is busy, or a vague answer. You can embarrass him by forcing him to admit that he doesn't do anything on Saturday night. It’s better to explain what’s going on and offer, if the interlocutor is free at that time, to meet with him.

6. Don't say "Hello" when you pick up the phone if you work for a large company. It's better to say its name.

7. Don’t forget that conversations with busy people should be kept as brief as possible.

8. Do not allow a visitor who comes in during a telephone conversation to listen to you, but ask him to come back in a few minutes or stop the conversation for a while.

9. Improvisation, calling without preliminary preparation of the necessary materials. Key words and conversation plan were not written down.

10. Do not pick up the phone for a long time (you need to pick up up to 4 rings).

11. Say “Hello”, “Yes” at the beginning of a conversation. It is necessary to say: “Good morning (afternoon).”

12. When asking: “Can I help you?”, it would be correct to ask: “How can I help you?”

13. The purpose of the conversation is unclear.

14. Unfavorable time to call (lunch time, end of the working day, etc.).

15. Monologues instead of listening to answers to questions posed.

16. Subsequent recording of a business conversation is not made; recording on random pieces of paper is not acceptable.

17. Leave your phone unattended, at least for a short time.

18. Say: “No one is there”, “Please call back.” You need to write down the information and number of the caller, promising to call back.

19. Conducting parallel conversations.

20. Unspecific agreements in the end.

21. Use an informal communication style in a business setting.

22. Do not turn the conversation into an interrogation by asking questions like: “Who am I talking to?” or “What do you need?”

You need to watch your diction. You should not hold the microphone with your hand when conveying something from a conversation to those who are nearby - your comments can be heard by a partner talking to you on the phone. If you make a complaint or reclamation, do not tell your partner that it is not your fault, that you are not involved in this and that you are not interested.

In formal communication, raising the tone is not allowed. The tone should be calm, restrained, even, regardless of the current situation. Even if your interlocutor is irritated and expresses dissatisfaction, shows emotional incontinence, controlling himself and suppressing the desire to respond in kind, you have an additional advantage. You can learn to control yourself thanks to psychological preparation and constant attention to your speech. In conflict situations, one cannot place all the blame on the other side. Acknowledging at least partial responsibility for what happened removes the situation of “throwing the ball” (alternating mutual accusations) and brings the conversation back into the mainstream of constructive dialogue. It is known that a friendly attitude towards the interlocutor and a willingness to listen to him are the basic rules of Russian etiquette.

A business conversation usually has one of two purposes: to obtain information or to gain some benefit. Therefore, when becoming a participant in a business conversation, it is worth remembering that this communication is not aimed at obtaining pleasure, but at solving a specific business issue.

Business conversation can rightfully be considered the most pragmatic type of interaction. Personal interests here give way to official interests. The result of a proper business conversation is a joint decision that suits all parties. At the same time, none of the participants has an unfavorable impression of the partner, and the relationship at least remains at the same level.

Business conversation is a dialogue between business partners aimed at solving a common business problem. In such a dialogue between the interlocutors there are questions goals searching for the most effective ways of cooperation, coordination and distribution of work performed, resolving difficult issues that arise, exchanging information and contacts.

the main task such a conversation - to convince the communication partner to accept certain proposals put forward.

These features of a business conversation predetermine the need for careful preparation for this type of conversation. That is why it is extremely important for employees to understand how to properly organize and conduct such communication.

Main functions of a business conversation:

1. Launching transformation processes and tracking already launched projects.
2. Maintaining business relationships between employees of the same organization and establishing new business contacts.
3. Development of new directions of movement.
4. Information interaction.

• Business communications as a way to achieve any business goals

Basic types of business conversation with employees

You can select 4 types business conversations:

1. Pre-appointment interview- aimed at obtaining comprehensive information about the job applicant. It is conducted in the form of an interview consisting of questions of various types.

2. Conversation upon dismissal- can occur in two different situations:

• dismissal of an employee at his own request. In this case, the manager’s task is to find out the true motives employee to leave, for which the employee is asked to evaluate working conditions, the content and volume of production tasks that were assigned to him;
• a situation where a manager is forced to fire or lay off an employee. This situation is the most difficult of all forms of business conversation, therefore, to carry out such a procedure, the manager must have specific knowledge and techniques.

3. Problem Conversations- are used in cases where an employee has significant disciplinary violations or other difficulties in his work activities. The purpose of such a conversation is to review the employee’s activities, identify the causes of problematic behavior and possible assistance in overcoming them.

To effectively resolve problems in an employee’s activities, the manager should, even before starting problematic conversation collect all the necessary information about the employee and his activities, and also think through the goal that he wants to achieve as a result of the conversation, and the methods by which this problem will be resolved, and also formulate the desired results.

To competently construct a business problem conversation, you should:

• start it with a positive review of the employee’s work and only then move on to a critical assessment of his performance;
• remember that it is the employee’s performance of official duties, and not his personality, that should be critically analyzed;
• try to select as specific and understandable formulations as possible in order to avoid misunderstandings resulting from the use of general phrases such as: “You are doing your job poorly”;
• The conclusion of a problematic conversation can be words of instruction or even praise.

As a result of following these rules, the problem conversation is more likely to be effective and the employee will not develop negative feelings towards you.

Questions that need to be clarified during a problem conversation (they will help you understand the situation and develop a strategy to resolve the problem):

• Are the employee’s disciplinary violations caused by serious personal problems (his or her relatives’ illness, conflicts in the family, etc.)?
• Do frequent failures in an employee’s performance indicate insufficient qualifications and the need for training?
• Is the employee trying to attract attention through his behavior and convey some message to management (perhaps being afraid to say anything directly)?
• Perhaps the employee is unhappy with the management style or feels the need for more freedom?

4. Disciplinary conversation, in essence, is a type of problem conversation, which involves informing an employee about forced disciplinary action against him. Such a decision should be voiced calmly, succinctly, clearly focusing the employee’s attention on making an adequate assessment of what happened and expressing understanding.

Example of a business conversation at a meeting: manager - subordinate

Dmitry: Thank you all for your efficiency and quick response. I ask everyone to pour yourself some coffee and let's discuss the two issues that are on our agenda today. You can see them on the board.

Alexey: Dmitry, I have several points that I would add to this list, if I may.

Dmitry: I'm sorry, Alexey, but I have a strict time limit today - at 11:00 I need to fly to another city for a meeting. Can't your ideas wait for my return?

Alexey: They can, no problem.

Dmitriy. Great. Then let's move on to the first topic of the meeting. Recently, our expenses, unfortunately, have increased significantly, and our directorate has earnestly asked us to reduce costs as much as possible. I ask you, as heads of your departments, to prepare reports with a plan to reduce costs within your departments by the time I return from my trip. I assume that finding sources of savings will not be easy, but orders from superiors, as we know, are not discussed.

Semyon: Regarding our second question, Dmitry...

Dmitry: I’m listening, Semyon. Already have some ideas?

Semyon: Yes, several. I sketched out solutions to this problem and made a copy for everyone so that everyone could see my ideas.

Dmitry: Great initiative, Semyon! We simply need this. I encourage everyone to discuss Semyon’s ideas right now, and I will definitely read them on the way to the meeting. When I return, I will definitely invite you to the meeting again. Goodbye!

What phrases should a manager not say in business communication?

You need to be careful when saying anything to your subordinates. Even seemingly harmless words can kill an employee’s motivation and discredit the boss.

The editors of the magazine "Commercial Director" brought 10 phrases, which definitely shouldn’t be used in a business conversation.

What factors influence effective business conversation?

There are certain factors and business conversation techniques that can increase the productivity of any conversation on business topics with colleagues, subordinates or business partners.

• Preparing and conducting a business conversation is impossible without possessing certain professional knowledge that will help you feel confident and present information as accurately as possible.
• Important features of correct presentation of information are simplicity, clarity, and specificity. It is important that messages are perceived unambiguously and do not cause misunderstandings. This can be achieved through the use of supporting tools such as presentations, tables, diagrams.
• A business conversation should flow along a pre-planned course, so try not to lose sight of the main goals of the conversation and present them to other participants in the conversation.
• The key ideas of your speech should be repeated several times: this will make it easier for your interlocutors to perceive and remember them.
• Presenting your communication partners with unexpected facts selected in advance will serve you well.
• Do not overload your communication partners with too much information, otherwise the conversation will not arouse their interest. Instead, insert appropriate humor into your speech, and this will help other participants in the conversation more easily perceive the rest of the information, even not very pleasant ones.
• A business conversation should not be uniform in intensity - the intensity of the conversation should gradually increase as it approaches the end. At the same time, a separate message, on the contrary, should contain maximum information in its first half, allowing the interlocutor to relax and summarize the main ideas in the second.

• Sales manager conversation scripts: development algorithm, examples

The most common methods of business conversation with partners

The process of a business conversation, like any type of communication, can take place using various communication methods.

№1. Fundamental method is the most familiar method of communication for us - arguing one’s point of view and counter-arguing the evidence of the interlocutor.

№2. Use in performance digital examples can become the most powerful argument, since digital statistics cannot be refuted, at least at a specific moment in a business conversation.

№3. Method of contradiction consists of searching for inconsistencies and mutually exclusive ideas in the interlocutor’s reasoning. This way you can take an advantageous defensive position.

№4. In order to lead partners in a business conversation to the necessary conclusion, you can use inference method, which builds a final conclusion based on smaller, precise arguments. However, when using this method, it is easy to make the mistake of using “apparent causation.” For example, in response to the teacher’s request to tell what he knows about the characteristics of cold and heat, the student replied that in heat bodies tend to expand, and in cold they tend to contract, and gave the example of summer and winter (in summer the days expand - they become longer, and in winter they narrow and shorten), which is incorrect.

№5. Well-chosen comparisons ( comparison method) can play a significant role in convincing opponents of your point of view.

№6. If your opponent concentrates his argument solely on the advantages or disadvantages of an idea, "yes-but" method, which consists in the ability to first express agreement with the interlocutor, and then draw his attention to the exact opposite side of the subject of discussion and analyze the total number of pros and cons.

№7. Another winning method is chunk method, the essence of which is to break down the opponent’s message into separate blocks and comment on them: “True,” “This is a very controversial idea,” “I completely disagree.” The greatest effect will be achieved if you concentrate on commenting and refuting the obviously weak arguments of your interlocutor, leaving the strengths of his speech without attention.

№8. One of the most ingenious methods, which in itself is not a method of argumentation, but can have a very strong impact when used at the right place in a business conversation - boomerang method. A striking example is the dialogue between the Athenian statesman Demosthenes and his longtime political enemy, the military leader Phocion, when in response to the former’s statement that the Athenians, angry, could hang Phocion, he replied: “And you, of course, too, as soon as they come to their senses.”

№9. If refuting or counter-arguing an opponent’s idea is difficult, it can simply be ignored - ignore method.

№10. Survey method makes it possible to ask the interlocutor a list of questions even before the conversation begins and thus force him to show his cards slightly and express his opinion on the subject under consideration. Usually such questions begin with the phrase: “What do you think about...?”

№11. Visible Support Method is the most complex and requiring special preparation method used during business contacts and business conversations. Its essence lies in the fact that after your opponent has spoken, you, starting a response speech, to the surprise of all participants in the dialogue, do not try to refute his position, but, on the contrary, continue to develop his point of view, putting forward more and more new arguments in support of it. However, such help to your opponent is only an appearance. After several arguments in favor, you say: “But even all this is not strong enough evidence, since...”. The purpose of this method is to convince your audience that you have conducted an in-depth analysis of your opponent's position (going deeper into the topic than the speaker himself) and have discovered the inconsistency of his ideas.

• Telephone techniques: 6 tips to avoid getting confused

Expert opinion

The “elevator” method in business communication

Andrey Kolesnikov,

General Director of PowerLexis, St. Petersburg

To achieve the best effect in business communication, I recommend using the “elevator” method, which is very popular in America. Its essence is as follows: imagine that you are going to negotiations with an important boss in a large company and you know that you will have exactly an hour.

You climb to the 50th floor of a skyscraper and suddenly meet an executive running out of the office who says: “Sorry, urgent matter! Come on, while we’re riding in the elevator, you can tell me the essence of the proposal.” This is a great test: if you only have 30 seconds to convey the key idea of ​​the meeting to your interlocutor, you can be sure that your further cooperation will be successful.

Conversation in business communication: conditions for success

Conducting a business conversation is something that, if desired, is possible and even desirable to learn. Western experts in business conversation and business negotiations - the so-called “talkers” - have developed a technique that leads 7 out of 10 meetings to all the desired results, and the remaining 3 to some of them.

Terms of business communication:

• the ability to arouse genuine interest in a communication partner, to show him the mutual benefit of a business contact;
• conducting business conversations and meetings in a friendly, trusting atmosphere;
• inclusion of techniques of suggestion and persuasion in the exchange of information.

• enter into a dialogue on a work-related topic in the corridor, “as if casually,” prefacing the conversation with phrases like: “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”, “It’s so good that I met you, I’ve been looking for you for a long time to do one thing for you.” proposal”, etc.;
• communicate with the interlocutor in such a way that he understands that he arrived at the wrong time, including combining a business conversation with some other activities (working with papers, talking on the phone, etc.).

It is believed that the course of a business conversation is set in the first 10 minutes of the conversation, and its outcome depends on them. Therefore, “talkers” recommend that when preparing for a business meeting, you should focus on the very first issue to be considered - it is better if it is concise and capable of interest, but does not cause heated discussion. Such a beginning will set a good tone for all further dialogue.

• Dismissal at will: rules and pitfalls

Business conversation plan: 4 stages of communication

Experts highlight the following stages business conversation:

Stage 1: Preparation.

Organization of preparatory activities usually includes:

• determining the topic of a business conversation, the composition of meeting participants, a specific date and place;
• leaving a rough plan for the meeting. A well-developed plan will help you control the situation even if any unexpected circumstances intervene;
• studying special information on the topic of the meeting: scientific literature, memos, statistical materials, data from organizations, etc. This is followed by a thorough analysis of the information received and filling in the already developed plan with it;
• The plan for the meeting and its goals are announced at the very beginning of the business conversation.

Stage 2: Starting a conversation.

The beginning of a business conversation creates an emotional connection between partners, which will affect the further course of the dialogue, so it is important for the initiator of the meeting to show a polite, friendly attitude towards its participants. At this stage, the first of the goals of a business conversation is achieved - establishing contacts, the emergence of mutual interest, and creating a favorable tone of communication. Sometimes starting a business conversation correctly also means being the first to take the initiative.

Stage 3: Information exchange.

The central stage of the structure of a business conversation is the information part, which consists of conveying the necessary information to communication partners and jointly discussing the ideas put forward. It is important to construct messages in such a way that they are as concise and clear as possible, thought out in advance, supported by reliable arguments and visual material, and also consist of terms that are understandable to all listeners. It is incorrect to interrupt the speaker, respond sharply to any statements, draw the attention of those present to the difference between you, or speak too quickly. Try to understand and accept the psychological state of your communication partners, do not get involved in emotional arguments with overly heated interlocutors.

Stage 4: End of conversation

The objectives of a business conversation are considered completed when all topics have been covered, problems have been successfully resolved, and participants are satisfied with the decisions made. At the end of the conversation, it is important to summarize the meeting and highlight the main conclusions and ideas that you came to as a result of the dialogue.

• How to make effective business decisions: 4 components of success

Basic rules of business conversation

There are the following generally accepted rules for conducting a business conversation:

1 Rule

Show respect for your communication partner. Show him the same treatment that you yourself would be pleased to receive in your direction. Avoid overly personal topics in conversation, such as illnesses or shortcomings of the interlocutor. Do not slander or gossip, do not show hostility to your opponent.

2 Rule

Try not to raise your voice during dialogue. To do this, you may need to avoid some sensitive topics that may cause the strongest reaction in your interlocutor. To avoid conflict, avoid a didactic tone, an inattentive attitude to your opponent’s words, or a superficial, thoughtless assessment of his statements. However, be prepared to voice your point of view on the topics discussed: people who do not have their own opinions are unlikely to arouse interest and respect from business partners.

3 Rule

One of the key skills of good business conversation is listening. Do not interrupt your interlocutor, do not object to him in a rude or even threatening manner, and do not try to give as much unsolicited advice as possible.

4 Rule

While listening to your opponent, concentrate your attention as much as possible on his speech. Do not forget to periodically demonstrate your attentive attitude with a nod, a small remark or just an interjection, otherwise your passivity may be regarded as impoliteness and unwillingness to condescend to your interlocutor.

5 Rule

No less important than the ability to listen is the ability to speak. A well-trained expressive voice is 40% of the success of any business conversation. A slurred pronunciation or an unpleasant sounding voice can neutralize even the most successful presentation, and, on the contrary, a bright, clear voice with correct breathing and diction will make listeners forget about shortcomings or mistakes when presenting information. Therefore, the path to successful speeches begins with mastering the correct speech techniques.

Nevertheless, such words have an important function - the function of introducing a meaningful conversation, delaying time in order to allow the participants in a business conversation to emotionally tune in to each other and the subject of discussion. If at the initial stage of the dialogue it is difficult to find topics that would interest both parties, you have to use templates and clichés to keep the conversation going.

Metalanguage - the language of subtext

Tip #1. Words themselves are always neutral, and a certain emotional connotation is given to them by the context in which they are used, the circumstances in which the conversation takes place, and the manner in which a person uses them. Compare: the phrase “my boss” sounds warmer and more emotional than just “boss”. The phrase “she talked to me” is more likely to suggest a mutual conversation that most likely had some effect on the speaker than the phrase “she told me” (which gives the impression of a neutral conversation or even a conversation with a negative connotation). Using this knowledge, you can manage the impression and reactions of your interlocutor - for example, the already mentioned phrase “I need to talk to you” will initially set the person up for interaction and cooperation.

Tip #2. The ability to speak “one metalanguage” is very important for negotiations. If you notice that your communication partner uses certain “speaking” expressions, try to switch to the same language. Suppose one of the participants in a business conversation says: “It seems that our paths diverge here,” which may indicate his desire to end the negotiations. The phrase he used is not typical of business communication, but if other participants in the conversation are attentive to the metalanguage used by their communication partners, they will be able to assume that the speaker is personally affected by the subject of discussion, and “save” the negotiations by speaking in his metalanguage.

Tip #3. There are metawords that indicate that the person using them wants to hide the truth or influence the course of a business conversation: “in fact,” “in truth,” “to be completely honest,” “undoubtedly,” etc. Using these words will allow you to quickly determine that your opponent is not sincere. For example, if you are told, “Honestly, this product is the best choice you could make,” then most likely the true meaning of the message is: “This product is not the best option you could choose, but I hope , you will believe me." However, some people use these metawords with a sincere desire to convince their interlocutors of their honesty. It’s worth getting rid of this habit, because upon hearing them, most people read the signal of deception.

Tip #4. The habit of ending sentences with questions “Isn’t it so?”, “Am I right?”, “Yes?” tells your interlocutors that you are not well acquainted with the subject of discussion, therefore you are looking for confirmation from your communication partners. Try to avoid such turns.

Tip #5. Using the words “only” or “only” in a business conversation is a sure sign that a person wants to deliberately downplay the significance of his words, hide his true emotions, abdicate responsibility (“we are just people”) or even deceive (“extraordinarily low price: only 499 rubles!”).

Tip #6. Words such as “I’ll try,” “I’ll do my best,” “I’ll make every effort” are characteristic of those people who are actually prepared for failure in advance and are accustomed to not achieving their goals. “I’m not sure I can handle this matter” - that’s what such phrases mean in metalanguage.

Tip #7. There are many other phrases that will be perceived ambiguously by listeners. For example, the phrase “I just wanted to help” clearly shields a person’s desire to interfere in other people’s affairs and give unsolicited advice. The words “only” or “simply” are intended here to soften the interference, to make it more invisible. Another example is the phrase “don't get me wrong,” which actually says, “You won't like what you hear from me, but I don't care.” It is more than controversial to hear the phrase “it’s not about the money” during a business conversation, since most often it is money that worries the speaker most. The phrases “I’ll see what can be done”, “we’ll try”, “we’ll do our best” are the favorite phrases of officials with which they try to get rid of visitors.

Tip #8. In order to force the interlocutor to give his consent, seemingly harmless words “of course” and “of course” are often used. “Of course, we will not insist on strict adherence to deadlines,” your communication partner says, and we can safely assume that this is exactly what he will do.

Tip #9. To arouse the interest of the interlocutor, phrases such as “do you know what happened next?”, “imagine what she answered me…” are often used. These clichéd expressions assume that the interlocutor will answer “No, I don’t know, I haven’t heard what exactly?”, and the business conversation will take the direction the person needs. If in response to such a phrase a person hears: “No, and I’m not interested,” he will most likely ignore these words and continue his story.

Tip #10. An example that professional speakers use to appear witty and original is to casually say in the middle of their story: “That reminds me of an incident...” and tell some old joke. This looks much better than directly asking listeners: “Do you know this joke...?”

Tip #11. The question “What is your opinion about...” usually assumes that the person to whom it is addressed will agree with the speaker’s position. Counter question: “What a fascinating topic. What do you think about this?” will help smooth out a possible conflict (if points of view differ) and evoke a friendly attitude in the business conversation partner.

Tip #12. If you want your interlocutor to easily agree to a proposal, express it directly: “Let’s...” (instead of “Why don’t we...” or “What if we...”). The tricky part of our brain is that it looks for direct answers to direct questions, so if you make an offer head-on, you won’t give your communication partner the time and opportunity to invent reasons for refusing.

Tip #13. The words “I wouldn’t like to seem…” are usually followed by the true characteristics of the speaker. That is, if you hear from a person “I wouldn’t want to seem intrusive,” expect exactly this from him.

Tip #14. Such emotional words and phrases as “enough!”, “this conversation is over”, “let’s finish this dialogue leading nowhere” and other phrases that are not typical for a business conversation, signal that the person has lost control of the situation and is not can control it more.

• Ideal organizational structure for a sales department

Expert opinion

Be careful with gestures

Pavel Lyadov,

leading expert at the MGIMO Center for International Protocol, professor at the Department of Diplomacy at MGIMO, Moscow

More than half of the information about a person is transmitted through his facial expressions, gestures, and gait. For example, if a person does not want to talk to you, he looks away. This is how he shows his hostility.

Signs of closedness: crossed arms, looking to the side, a chair with its back turned towards the interlocutor. If during negotiations a person takes off his glasses, examines them, drums his fingers on the table, looks in different directions - this shows an absolute reluctance to listen and rejection of what is being discussed.

It is important to take into account the national specifics of sign language. You can completely unexpectedly offend a person without knowing his business culture. For example, the “OK” sign (thumb and index finger connected in a ring) means different things in different countries: in some places it’s not about everything being okay, but about money. On one of the Mediterranean islands, this sign even indicates non-traditional sexual orientation. Another example: when you meet someone, you hand them your business card. However, in the Middle East and Arab countries, if you give a business card or gift with your left hand, you risk ruining your relationship with the person: the left hand in these countries is considered “unclean.” And so on.

What questions can you ask during a business conversation?

In order to understand what questions should be asked and at what point in a business conversation, as well as how to answer them correctly, you should know what questions there are and for what purposes they are best used.

1. Closed questions require a monosyllabic answer of “yes” or “no.” Asked in a positive way, such as “Do you want...?”, “Do you like...?”, “Do you agree...?”, they will cause the respondent to have an instant subconscious desire to say “yes,” and if they contain a negation (“Don’t is that so?”, “I think you don’t think that...”), will most likely provoke him to a negative answer.

Business conversation, as a form of business communication, often requires obtaining clear and specific information. This, as well as the interlocutor’s confirmation of his agreement with previous agreements, ideas and plans, is the purpose of closed questions. They are unlikely to encourage your communication partner to provide more detailed information, and if used too often and thoughtlessly, they can create the impression of an interrogation. Therefore, they should not be abused without a specific purpose.

2. Open questions, unlike closed ones, allow you to obtain additional, more detailed information about the subject of discussion, the views of the interlocutor, his assessment of the topic of conversation, desires, motives and goals. They begin with question words “what?”, “who?”, “why?”, “when?”, “why?” etc. and require a detailed, detailed answer.

Open questions have several pitfalls, namely:

• They provide a person with the opportunity to deviate from the topic of discussion and take the conversation in a different direction. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to clearly monitor the progress of the dialogue and keep the goals of the conversation in mind.
• Open questions initially presuppose freedom of opinion, which means they can generate assessments of the subject of discussion that are not always necessary in a business conversation. In this case, you need to try to avoid sharp, overly emotional exclamations like: “How can you think about this now?” or “I don’t understand why you like this?” and replace them with a polite one: “I would be very interested to know your point of view on this topic” or “What way out of this situation do you see?”

3. Rhetorical questions are not intended to obtain a real answer, since it is obvious to both parties (like, for example, the answer to the question “We really want this project to bring us good income?”). They are designed to direct the interlocutor’s thinking in the right direction, place emphasis and highlight the main thoughts that need to be drawn to the attention of the communication partner.

4. Test questions have as their goal to verify the reliability of our interlocutor’s answers, to check his sincerity. This is done through several questions, structured differently, but aimed at obtaining the same information, which are asked at intervals. For example, if we want to make sure that a person really likes his job, we can first ask a direct question: “Do you like your job?”, then after a while ask: “Have you ever thought about changing jobs?” , and finally ask the last control question: “If you were offered another position, would you accept?” Thus, we have the opportunity to compare all the answers received during a business conversation and understand the true position of the interlocutor.

5. Clarifying questions are asked if the interlocutor’s words were incomprehensible to you or too abstract. Phrases usually used in such cases: “Please explain what you mean?”, “Could you please clarify...”, “What do you want to say by this?”

6. Probing questions are aimed at obtaining more information about a communication partner when he is trying to hide something important or does not fully understand his motives and emotional states. Using these questions requires a special ability for empathy, empathy and tact, as they appeal to the feelings of the interlocutor: “What happened there?”, “How often does this happen?”, “How did you react to this?”, “What prompted you act this way?”, “Do you think it was possible to avoid this situation and how?”

7. Mirror questions almost completely repeat the interlocutor’s answer, or at least the main ideas of his answer, and are supplemented by our own clarification (“Did I understand you correctly - do you believe that ...?”, “You said that ... What is your confidence based on?”). A business conversation is a conversation that does not involve misunderstandings and ambiguities, therefore such speech patterns are used to enable our interlocutor to hear himself from the outside, once again analyze and clarify what he said.

8. Indirect questions will help us get the information we need when we assume that our interlocutor will try to avoid a direct answer and hide his true opinion. To get around his reaction of resistance, we can ask not about the point of view of the person himself, but about the position of his colleagues or immediate environment. In formulating it, a person is likely to reflect his own opinion.

Sometimes it may take not one, but a whole list of questions to “get” to the information you really need. For example, when finding out whether our interlocutor was talking with a certain person of interest to us, we can go the following way: ask if he went to a certain department today, if this person was there, if he asked our communication partner for something, etc. .

9. Relay questions allow you to pick up the last phrase of your interlocutor and logically continue the business conversation, moving from discussion of one topic to another.

10. Bridge questions play a similar role to relay questions, namely: they create appropriate transitions from one topic to another, for example, using the following words: “Now I propose to talk about this ...” or “I have a couple of ideas about ...”.

11. Closing questions, as the name implies, are asked at the end of a business conversation and are aimed at emphasizing respectful and trusting relationships between communication partners, ultimately clarifying and clarifying agreements. An example would be the question: “Have I been able to convince you how useful our cooperation can be?” or “So, can we launch this project before the end of this year?”

• Phrases to Say No Firmly but Elegantly

Expert opinion

A business compliment is an effective tool for business conversation

Shamil Bikkulov,

Director of the State Unitary Enterprise "Ufa Polygraph Plant"

A business compliment must be present during the work process. If a person did a job quickly and well, then why not praise him? A compliment is an assessment of the result of a person’s work. Sometimes some employees react painfully if someone is publicly praised. I found a way out of this situation: when I want to praise a person for a job well done, I say a neutral phrase: “He coped with his task.”

How to conduct a business conversation over the phone

A business meeting and business conversation can be held not only in person. One of the simplest and most common ways to establish business contacts is by telephone. An employee who can professionally conduct business negotiations over the phone is of great value to any company.

Art telephone conversations is to succinctly convey information to the interlocutor and hear the answer.

To do this, it is important to observe the following rules conducting telephone conversations:

1) Preparedness, friendly attitude towards the interlocutor, politeness - the employee must inspire trust.

2) Having the skills to properly conduct a business conversation.

3) Preliminary preparation by the employee of the materials he needs: paper, reference information, telephone numbers.

4) The desire to quickly complete the task.

5) A plan and purpose of communication, communication tactics, questions to ask the interlocutor, topics to be raised in the dialogue, thought out even before the telephone conversation. The purpose of such preliminary preparation is to avoid unnecessary pauses, hesitations, confusion and repetition of words.

6) Questions, the answers to which will help the employee prepare for a business conversation:

• What is my goal in starting this conversation?
• Is it possible to sort out this problem without calling?
• Is my interlocutor in the mood to discuss this topic?
• Am I confident in the successful outcome of the conversation? What in this case will be a successful outcome for both parties, and what will be an unsuccessful outcome?
• What questions should I ask and what questions might come from my interlocutor?
• What methods and techniques can I use during this dialogue?
• How should I behave if the interlocutor shows rudeness or distrust of my words, raises his tone or begins to deny my arguments?

How to politely end a conversation? There are several options to politely stop an unnecessarily prolonged dialogue:

• “Sorry, I have another meeting now, I need to go.”
• “I’m afraid I have to rush to a meeting now, can we finish talking later?”
• “I was very glad to hear from you, but I have to go.”
• “Sorry, I was asked to perform an urgent task, would you be okay if I call you back in half an hour?”
• “I suggest we discuss this again next week.”

First of all, you should initially evaluate whether you should enter into a business conversation over the phone or not. If there is a visitor in your office at the time of the call, and the telephone conversation is urgent, you need to apologize to the visitor and offer him something to do during your conversation. If the telephone conversation is not so important, you should ask the caller to wait a little or postpone the conversation with the following phrases: “Sorry, I can’t talk now, let me contact you later?”, “Sorry, I’m busy right now, can you call me back in half an hour?” ?.

Information about companies and experts

PowerLexis- a consulting company that specializes in the development of technologies for winning audiences through “live” business presentations. PowerLexis offers clients the development of concepts for presentations of products, services, projects, companies; creation of a corporate style and presentation design standard; consultations and analysis of presentations. Clients: Microsoft, Uniastrum Bank, Baltika OJSC, Baltic Customs Agency, Informtekhnika group of companies, Beltel, Spetstrust No. 2 group of companies, etc.

Pavel Lyadov worked for about 40 years in the Central Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad, was Consul General of the USSR in Salzburg (Austria), Consul General of Russia in Munich (Germany), First Deputy Head of the Department of State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and Director of the Department of State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Gives lecture courses on “Etiquette of Diplomatic and Business Communication”, “Business Ethics and Protocol”, “State Protocol of the Russian Federation”.

Center for International Protocol MGIMO is engaged in professional training and development of business etiquette and protocol skills for middle and senior managers and external relations specialists of companies and organizations. The center's experts organized more than 100 international and all-Russian conferences, congresses and seminars, more than 70 visits of top officials of states and heads of international organizations, as well as dozens of official ceremonies.

State Unitary Enterprise "Ufa Polygraph Plant" produces diversified books, magazines, fine arts, and cultural and household goods. Books printed at the plant participate in all-Russian and republican exhibitions. In 2002, the printing plant took 1st and 3rd places at the Regional Advertising Festival “Profession 2002” for publishing the Ural Triennial catalog and E. Hemingway’s book “The Old Man and the Sea” in the Bashkir language. The company employs about 200 employees. Annual turnover - 62 million rubles.

Beyond the question itself, the person facing problems has a deep need for understanding and expects you to correctly diagnose their problem. The doctor and lawyer need to be told the whole truth, and most people know this. There are sayings on the topic: “Tell the lawyer everything as it really happened, he himself will confuse everything for you.”

Often a person has a need to pour out his soul if he has some personal experiences - and you can ruin even a positive impression of you if you interrupt or show a lack of interest in him personally, but only demonstrate interest in his business and his money.

If you interrupt your interlocutor, do not answer his questions or ask counter questions, do not ask his opinion, do not clarify details, but simply describe in a monologue how this happens for you, this greatly reduces the effectiveness of the conversation.

Rule number one: if a person has an emotional impulse, his speech flows like a river, let him speak out, use active listening techniques, “Uh-huh,” “Yeah,” “Yes, yes,” and clarifying questions, because perhaps he will tell you everything and you will be able to diagnose his problem.

An example of a dialogue using several of the described techniques, formulated based on real questions with which people usually turn to lawyers:

— (company name), good afternoon.

— Hello, I would like to know the prices for your services.

- Yes, sure. My name is Nikolay, I am the head of the client department. May I know your name?

— Artem Dmitrievich.

- Nice to meet you, Artem Dmitrievich. We have a fairly wide range of services. So that I can answer your question, please briefly describe what happened to you?

In this case, we, firstly, greeted the potential client who called, we identified ourselves by name and position, and found out the name of the interlocutor. Next, we addressed the interlocutor by name, which is also very important when communicating with strangers.

We answered his question about the cost of our services quite comprehensively, as far as possible in this situation, and seized the initiative, justifying this by the fact that we need to learn more about his problem in order to answer the question more specifically. He goes on to say:

— I got into an accident, the culprit has some connections with the traffic police, I am afraid that they will not compensate me for the damage for the broken car and will also force me to pay out of my own pocket.

— When and where did this happen, in which traffic police department is the case being considered?

— Moskovsky Prospekt, house 48, a week ago. The case is with the traffic police of the Moscow region.

Next, we ask further clarifying questions: are there any documents, certificates, a diagram of the incident, or a cost estimate for damage assessment. The answer follows: “Yes, there is a certificate, there is this, there is that...” It turns out that we have enough initial data to understand whether this is our client or not. In this case, this is our client, so we, having decided on this, must then transfer him to the next stage so that he comes to us for an initial consultation.

“In this case, I propose to discuss all the details in a personal meeting.” When would it be convenient for you to come to us for a consultation?

- I don’t see the point in a meeting, just tell me the approximate cost over the phone, I’m only interested in numbers.

Thus, our first attempt to make an appointment ended in failure. What do we do in this case? In response to his objection, to his remark about his reluctance to come to you, you can say that not all people have an idea of ​​how a lawyer’s work is structured. This metaphor can be very helpful:

— Lawyers are like doctors: in order to make a diagnosis, the doctor needs your tests. Do you agree with this? We need to look at your documents. Tests for the doctor, and your documents for the lawyer

Usually all people say: yes, absolutely. The example of the work of doctors shows this well. Next, you move into the future and describe to your interlocutor point by point what exactly will happen during the consultation.

— During the consultation, we will study your documents, ask you a few clarifying questions, determine how exactly we can help you, and describe the sequence of actions to solve your problem.

With this technique we define a program, which we talked about a little earlier when we looked at the structure. That is, you set a program for what exactly will happen after he agrees to come and arrives. Thus, you give the person a map that he will need to follow; you have already drawn it for him.

— At the end of the consultation, you will have a clear picture in your head of what and how to do to achieve the desired results.

Here you argue in favor of his personal visit to you, pointing out his personal benefits that he will receive from this consultation. Even a free consultation needs to be sold, because potential clients tend to perceive it as your cunning ploy to trick them out of money. In response to this stereotype, you should insert a similar phrase into your telephone conversation script: a description of the benefits of the interlocutor using your free or inexpensive service.

— Tell me, will it be convenient for you to come to us today or tomorrow?

Second try, cast the fishing rod a second time. Perhaps not all your clients will be so stubborn, but you should still be able to meet such resistance and tactfully handle any objections from even the most intractable clients.

— How much do your services cost?

How to present the price correctly is the topic of a separate chapter. Here is one possible answer:

“I can tell you that we do not have the lowest rates in the city, and the reason for this is that we do our job well and get results. But quality costs money, you probably understand that yourself. The price for services starts from... - (and name the lowest level). We can tell you more after studying your documents.

As a result, you answered the question, giving an idea of ​​the cost level, but gave a reasonable argument as to why you cannot give a specific answer that would put the client before choosing whether to seek your services or not. Obviously, he has a certain budget in his head, how much he is willing to spend on these services.

Let me remind you that the main purpose of receiving incoming calls is not to provide comprehensive answers to all the client’s questions and not to put him before a choice whether to buy or not to buy, not to immediately sell him a contract over the phone, because this is much more difficult than can be done in a consultation. You should set yourself the goal of receiving a call - this is not selling a big service, but selling a small, simple next step - consultation in the office.

Want more useful materials?

1. 3 chapters from the book “Million Dollar Law Firm: From Private Practice to Market Leadership” (PDF, 32 pages)
2. "A Marketing Plan to Double Your Law Firm's Profits in 10 Simple Steps" (PDF, 22 pages)

Business Etiquette. Why you need to behave this way and not otherwise Bazhenova Elizaveta Viktorovna

FEATURES OF BUSINESS DIALOGUE

FEATURES OF BUSINESS DIALOGUE

Negotiations with partners, especially when building relationships, are of great importance for future cooperation. And the alliance that is being created depends on how competently you carry them out. If you fail to defend your point of view, if you show weakness, you will be a follower in this alliance. Press too hard and you may lose your ally. The best thing is if you have a smooth relationship as equals. But you will have to make an effort for this.

Need to know some characteristic techniques used for tactically competent negotiations.

One of these methods is technique of “escape” or “evasion of the fight”. It is used when issues that are undesirable for discussion are raised, as well as in order not to give your partner accurate information or a definite answer if you are not even sure whether the development of your relationship will take place.

For example, Mr. Ivanov felt that Mr. Popov, who came to the meeting, was for some reason interested in the production process at his enterprise, and he had suspicions that Mr. Popov was not going to maintain a relationship, but simply in this way decided to find out some of Mr. Ivanov’s proprietary secrets. What is he doing? He decides to “hold” the negotiations, for which the secretary arranges an urgent call, apologizes to Mr. Popov and asks to postpone the discussion of issues of interest to him for another day, since he needs to leave immediately to resolve an important issue. Mr. Popov is forced to leave without finding out anything.

A new meeting is scheduled in a couple of days. During this time, Mr. Ivanov will find out in detail how right he is in his suspicions.

Similar ones are built according to the same model. techniques of “delaying”, “waiting”, “salami”, which are used to delay negotiations in order to find out more about those with whom negotiations are being conducted, or about some situation.

Reception "packaging" suggests that not one, but several issues are brought up for discussion. In this case, the “package” includes both attractive and unattractive offers, which cannot be passed individually (without attractive ones), but in the form of a “package” they can be accepted; to increase the attractiveness of the offers, a package of concessions can also be offered.

For example, when subletting a plot of land of poor quality, the owner allows the tenant to use the sports center cottage in the winter. Very often a kind of deceptive move is used, which has the conventional name "excessive demands." This technique consists of bringing up for discussion a whole list of problems, among which there are “distracting” ones that are obviously unacceptable to one of the parties.

Of course, the battle begins precisely because of these points, with which the second side will not agree under any circumstances, and when a firm “no” is said, the first side pretends that it has entered into the position of the interlocutors and agrees to remove these points, but the interlocutors They must also show loyalty and remove any demands on their part. No one ever expected that the controversial provisions would be signed; they simply distracted the other side from agreeing to the remaining points, which without the controversial ones might not have passed.

The technique of “placing false accents of one’s own position”- also a kind of deception. It consists of demonstrating to the partner extreme interest in resolving an issue that is not really of great importance. In fact, having convinced the partner of interest in the resolved issue, the businessman quietly receives from him a solution to another issue, which is very important for the company and could not “slip through” without problems if the partner had guessed about it.

There is also a clever move - to “squeeze” an important requirement at the last minute, this technique is called - “making demands at the last minute.” It is used at the very end of negotiations, when all the issues have been settled, the partners have come to an agreement and all that remains is to pick up a pen and sign the contract. It’s then that one of the partners suddenly “remembers” that one trifle remains unresolved... and puts forward new demands.

Sometimes a “trifle” is such that the second partner turns around and leaves the negotiations. Sometimes the one who prepared the surprise is lucky, and the second partner agrees to sign the contract, but this only happens when he is ready to sacrifice something for the sake of the contract itself.

The results of negotiations depend not only on the tricks that you used during communication, but also on how you know how to communicate. This is where it’s worth remembering again about competent and pure Russian speech. More than once I had to participate in or be present at negotiations, and sometimes my hair stood on end. Some “speaker” begins to speak... and again one hears “due to lack of presence”, “conducting the opening of the closing”... Official, bureaucratic language, heavy construction of phrases.

It’s no wonder that most negotiators prefer not to speak on the most important issues themselves, but to read other people’s thoughts on a piece of paper. But who knows better the issue under discussion - the businessman or his secretary-assistant, who did not leave the computer for two days, writing this “lack of presence”? Probably a businessman. The trouble is that he is afraid to speak in his own words, but those of others are stunningly terrible.

At one of these meetings, next to the boss, a middle-aged, fat man from the retired military, sat a perfect “brother.” They negotiated magically. The boss read, haltingly, the fruit of the secretaries' sleepless nights, tired of reading what he did not understand; then the “brother” stood up, looked at everyone and said: “Andrei Nikolaevich said that ...” and translated his boss’s ten-minute speech, successfully flattening it into two sentences.

At first the other side was annoyed by this, then it began to make them laugh, and after two days they realized that “brother” needed to listen (and listen carefully). The boss poured water, the “brother” explained the essence.

Later it turned out that the assistant who looked like a “brother” graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. And in order not to expose himself to ridicule, it was he who needed to negotiate. But then the boss took the position of an offended cocotte, and so it turned out - a speaker and a co-speaker.

Of course, no one requires a business person to be brilliant in rhetoric and have a bewitching voice. But you can learn to construct phrases correctly and pronounce them clearly by sweating a little in front of the mirror, or better, as we have already said, by filming yourself and then assessing your oratorical abilities.

In order for your speech to be not only competent, but also effective, experts recommend:

– emphasize important words and subordinate less important ones to them;

– change the tempo of speech – this gives it expressiveness;

– pause before and after important thoughts.

And don't forget that there is six communication effects :

1. Visual image effect- is based on the fact that at first a person is perceived by his external appearance, and this external appearance overshadows subsequent perception: you seemed insignificant and unpleasant - all your further words will be perceived from this bell tower; so pay attention to how beautifully you are dressed, how you use facial expressions, whether you know how to be polite and tactful, whether you behave elegantly and confidently, even how you look at your interlocutors.

2.The effect of the first phrases– consolidates or corrects the initial impression, therefore the first phrases should contain interesting information, with elements of originality, immediately attracting attention.

3.Effect of argumentation– the speech must be reasonable, convincing, logical, provoking co-reflection and comprehension of the information.

4.The effect of intonation and pauses. The peculiarity of human perception is that intonation and pauses contribute to a 10–15 percent increase in information, causing associations and suggestions among interlocutors.

5.The effect of artistic expression- this is the correct construction of sentences, correct word stress, the use of rhetorical devices - metaphors, hyperboles, etc.

6.Relaxation effect: someone who is able to make a joke at the right time, insert a witty remark, will be luckier in negotiations than someone who cannot do this, because humor creates a natural pause for people to rest, brings people closer together and puts them in a favorable mood.

The negotiation process depends on your ability not only to listen, but also to ask questions .

All questions can be divided into the following categories: informational, control, guiding, provocative, alternative, confirming, counter, introductory, one-way, beginning and ending negotiations.

Information questions They ask in order to obtain some necessary information from the partner, for example: “Tell us about the essence of your proposal.”

Control questions used to find out how well you understand each other, for example: “What do you think about our proposal? How interesting is it to you?

Guiding Questions They assume that you occupy a leading position in the dialogue and direct the conversation in a direction that is beneficial to you (this way you can “lead” your partner away from a topic that is undesirable for you and present your own interests as important for both partners).

Provocative questions they ask in order to understand the true claims of the partner, his true capabilities and interests, for example: “Are you sure that you can handle this matter?” By asking provocative questions, you pretend that you doubt your partner’s intentions, and he is forced to prove that your doubts are unjustified. Thus, he immediately takes on part of the responsibility, even if this was not initially part of his plans.

Alternative questions put the partner before choosing from several options, for example: “When is it more convenient for you to come to our company - on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?” Even if the partner did not plan to agree to something so quickly, he is now forced to choose one of the proposed options. An alternative question sometimes speeds up the transaction by not allowing time to think about the issue.

Confirmation questions exist in order to achieve the consent of the partner. Confirmatory questions are constructed according to the following principle: first, about five questions are asked, the answer to which is an unambiguous “yes,” and then a sixth one, to which the partner can answer either “yes” or “no.” If the question had been asked immediately, without preparation, the answer could have been denial. But after five “yes” answers, the person also answers the sixth question, which is beneficial to the interested party.

Counter questions allow you to move the discussion in the right direction and smoothly lead your partner to making a final decision.

Introductory questions asked to clarify the partner’s opinion on an upcoming decision, for example: “What do you want to achieve using this technique?”, or to understand how much the dialogue influenced the partner’s opinion.

Single page questions sound like a repetition of a question asked by a partner, they help to delay the answer and give yourself additional time to think, for example, a partner asks: “Do you agree to transfer this amount by Thursday?”, and you answer the question with a question: “Do I agree to transfer this amount until Thursday? I guess, that …"

Psychologists advise starting and ending a business meeting with the help of beginners And closing questions: “Negotiation-opening issues are essential for effective and engaged discussion. Negotiating partners immediately develop a state of positive expectation. For example: “If I offer you a way to quickly solve a problem without risking anything, will you be interested in it?” „“

Closing questions are aimed at a speedy positive conclusion of the negotiations. In this case, it is best to first ask one or two confirming questions, always accompanied by a friendly smile: “Was I able to convince you of the benefits of this offer?”, “Are you convinced how simply everything is solved?” And then, without additional transition, you can ask a question concluding negotiations: “Which time for the implementation of this proposal suits you more - May or June?” (“Business conversations and negotiations”, www.manag-staff.ru).

The progress of negotiations depends on how much you adhere to the rules of business etiquette, that is, how accurate, honest, correct, tactful you are, and how you know how to listen to your interlocutor and explain what you want to get from him. But negotiations depend not only on these personal qualities, but also on the negotiation conditions .

Of course, negotiations will be difficult if the following exist: negative factors(not related to the issues being resolved):

– discomfort of the physical environment: unattractiveness of the room, uncomfortable seats, stale air, etc.;

– preoccupation of interlocutors with some official or personal matters, upset moral and psychological state;

– ambition, envy, ill will;

– illiteracy of the speaker’s speech, inexpressiveness of phrases, etc.;

– incompetence of the interlocutor;

– rejection of the interlocutor’s image.

Psychologists quite rightly point out that for proper negotiations or other business events, it is necessary to seat the interlocutors in such a way that they

nothing prevented me from talking to you as equals.

Considering various organization options

business meeting, they note the following positions

for participants in the negotiation process:

Classroom placement interlocutors is used if they have to listen to a fairly lengthy report. This type of arrangement of dialogue participants assumes that the speaker will listen and take note of what is said. This arrangement is possible for intra-office meetings when all team members are present. This arrangement is contraindicated during negotiations and business meetings.

Conference type of accommodation interlocutors are also preferable for internal business events or for purely official meetings that should show your importance. This form of placement is inconvenient for equal negotiations.

At horseshoe seating you soften the official atmosphere and show yourself to be a businesslike but democratic person who respects other people's opinions.

At "V" seating arrangement you maintain a democratic image, but at the same time demonstrate that the last word always remains with you: you agree to listen to everyone, but will not follow anyone’s lead.

The most democratic seating arrangement - around the round table and at regular intervals. If you need to discuss several issues with the invitation of leading experts, then you can seat the participants in the dialogue in small groups at round tables. So a specialist, for example, in marketing, will find himself next to people of a related specialty and will be able to discuss the topic raised with his neighbors, and not with a heating engineer who does not understand anything about marketing. But such a seating arrangement is unacceptable if some issue is being resolved that requires close attention from everyone, participation in the discussion of each person - with a seating arrangement of this type, group communication automatically arises.

And on business meetings with a small number of participants(2-3) the most rational way is to sit at a round table, or around a coffee table, or simply move the chairs a little towards each other so that the stiffness disappears and a comfortable, cozy environment emerges, conducive to communication.

“Before starting a conversation, you need to clearly formulate for yourself what needs to be achieved as a result of the meeting. For the conversation to be productive from the very beginning, you need to:

– establish contact with the interlocutor;

– create a favorable atmosphere for conversation;

– attract the partner’s attention;

- arouse interest in the conversation;

– “seize” the initiative if necessary.

There are such ways to start a conversation , which block our path to success or make it very difficult to achieve it. You should avoid them if you want so that your conversation is productive:

– manifestation of self-doubt and the need for a meeting;

– display of disrespect at the beginning of the meeting, even in a mild form;

– arousing the interlocutor’s defensive position with the very first questions.

Conversation style– a complex concept that includes, on the one hand, seemingly “elementary”, “technical” components of speech, such as:

– pitch, timbre;

– volume;

– duration, frequency of pauses;

- speed;

– presence and nature of gestures;

– intonation;

– repetitions, etc.

However, these characteristics are by no means elementary and are very difficult to change, since they are realized in speech mainly automatically, often unconsciously. In addition, their meaning and the impression they make on a partner are very ambiguous.

The problem of successful interaction between people is further aggravated by the presence of more complex and in-depth components of the conversation style, such as:

– tendency to speak directly or hint;

– asking or giving others the initiative to inform themselves;

– comfortable level of formality or simplicity; acceptable jokes;

– attitude towards the exchange of complaints;

– the expectation that the other will follow our example, etc.” (E. Ivanova, “Effective communication and conflicts”).

So, when you are going to negotiate, just ask yourself the question: would I be comfortable, being in a company for the first time, that is, on foreign territory, communicating with people who are new to me? Is the environment pleasant for me? Is it comfortable for me to sit? Does the speaker speak clearly enough? Does he accompany his speech with visuals? Does he give reasons for his statements? Does he have confidence?

And try to do everything to inspire the trust of your interlocutor.

The best days for negotiations Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are considered the worst, Monday and Friday are considered the worst. On Monday, negotiations may be ineffective, since this is the beginning of the work week and often on the weekend the partner has had a good rest from everyday work and allowed himself to relax. It is hardly wise to negotiate with people suffering from a hangover. Friday is the last day of the working week, the partner is already set up for the upcoming vacation, his head is occupied with bright thoughts, not deeds, so this day is not good for negotiations either.

Optimal time for negotiations They consider the afternoon - half an hour or an hour later, when a person is already sufficiently awake and full, his attention is not distracted by anything and he perceives information adequately.

From the book Business Plan in 30 Days. A step-by-step guide to successful business planning and starting your own business author Patsula Peter J.

5.1 Advantages and disadvantages of individual entrepreneurs. Features of farming and small business in Russia. Features of taxation As mentioned in previous chapters, today each of us, with the small exception of certain groups of people, is able to engage in

From the book of the Guru. How to become a recognized expert author Parabellum Andrey Alekseevich

Business Proposal Summary The Business Proposal Summary, unlike the Mission Statement and especially the Core Business Definition, is most often used to summarize the objectives of your business plan.

From the book Achieving Goals: A Step-by-Step System author Atkinson Marilyn

From the book Thoughts, aphorisms, quotes. Business, career, management author Dushenko Konstantin Vasilievich

From the book Thank you for your review. How to properly respond to feedback by Khin Sheila

From the book Managed Bankruptcy author Savchenko Daniil

The ability to create an opportunity “out of nothing”, through business dialogue, has always been highly valued in all professional and business spheres of life.

Footballers who create scoring chances, salespeople who bring in new major contacts, as well as marketers who come up with new “masterpieces” - all of them are worth their weight in gold in their organizations and, as a rule, are very expensive.

The same is true in communication: for a networker, creating new business acquaintances, or rather creating a favorable atmosphere for the first dialogue from situations that, at first glance, are not conducive to communication, is an art.

In this article, I have collected a collection of the best examples of “first phrases” that I constantly use in practice and many of which are my own method.

Request/Favour

Task: create a certain problematic situation for oneself and involve another person in its solution.

Example. You are at a business conference. You have received your participant badge and don’t know where to go next. Volunteers and organizers are not visible nearby, but you see several participants nearby also looking for some kind of route. Great! Come and start the following dialogue:

— I beg your pardon, but do you happen to know how to get to Hall B? They gave me a badge, but didn’t tell me where to go...

Development of dialogue:

- Hmm... Just a second... Look in Hall B - it seems to be there (explains where) - Got it, thank you! Oh, and you happen to be going to the wrong place.

And I’m not very good at navigating...

- No, I’m going to Hall A.

- Understood. A! Tinkoff seems to be performing there...

- Yes, that's right.

— He’ll probably rub his bank in the face again...

What's the idea?

Our main task is to stretch out the “faceless” dialogue (that is, a dialogue where we do not know the names or its participants) as long as possible. During such a skirmish of words, our interlocutor feels at ease, since we do not demand anything from him and do not force him to get to know each other, but simply introduce him to a familiar social situation: I’m lost - can you tell me how to get there? To introduce myself later.

We may know how to get to Hall B, but we specifically come up with this problem in order to give some kind of start to communication and put the interlocutor in a familiar social situation.

Other examples:

- I'm sorry, the printer was healing... Don't know how to deal with it?

- So... And what floor is Gazprom on? I passed the turnstile, but didn’t ask where to go...

In kindergarten:

- Girl, do you know where they pick up children here?

In order for this tool to work as efficiently as possible, I recommend thinking through in advance several options for the further development of the business dialogue. Sometimes, due to not knowing what to say next, the efforts previously invested in the first phrase will be wasted, and the acquaintance will be ruined.

Summary:

Try to find realistic problem situations in everything. Don't solve them yourself, but give other people the opportunity to help you with this, even if you know that the answer is obvious. The more obvious the problem, the easier your business interlocutor will accept your request (how to go to the library) and the easier it is for you to calculate the course of development of the dialogue in order to subsequently reach the “acquaintance” stage.

Opinion

Task: The method is very similar to the previous one, only in this case there is no problem. You just want to find out a person’s opinion on a particular situation in order to make a decision later.

Example. You are standing in line at a printing store and thinking about what paper to choose for your business card. You see that behind you, a business man in a suit is depressed. Great! Turn around and create the following dialogue:

- I beg your pardon, but maybe you can tell me...

Further development:

- Um... What happened?

(It’s unlikely that he will say: no, leave me alone...)

— I’m not an expert in this, but maybe you had experience. What paper is best to choose for a business card?

- Well, it depends on such and such parameters.

- I have it like this.

Go to acquaintance:

- Great! Thank you very much! Perhaps this is what you are doing?

- No way! No, not at all... I'm a lawyer!

— That is, if there is anything else, we can also come to you for legal advice

- Why not!

- Great! My name is Mikhail by the way...

What's the idea?

The main principle here is to carefully attract the attention of the interlocutor with words of apology, a short description of the situation, why you are bothering him and your question.

For example:

“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find a dress for the performance... Could you tell me which one is better?”

— Sorry, for God’s sake, but you won’t help... my colleague and I are choosing partners from among the stands. Which one did you find most interesting?

Always try to select the necessary question so that the answer does not require a short answer. From the series “Can you tell me how to spell the word unicorn, with o or a?”

As with the first method, it is necessary to come up with a more complex situation that will involve the interlocutor for a while and create a situation of comfortable and relaxed “consultation”. After which the acquaintance will be quite natural.

Also, another additional advantage of this method is that you listen to the interlocutor 90% of the time, which is always very pleasant for any person, and also makes him feel like an “expert” whose opinion is listened to.

If in the end, based on his opinion, the final decision is made (in favor of such paper or such a dress), then the person will be doubly flattered and the first impression of your communication will be purely positive.

Common irritant

A general irritant is understood as a situation that carries a certain irritant for both you and your business interlocutor. To understand what we are talking about, I will give an interesting case.

Example.

There is a huge queue at the branch of the state bank... Grandma says the phrase “into the air”:

- Well, just look, they put up a sign, and the queue got even longer...

Another grandmother picks up:

- Yeah! Yesterday I stood for three hours to get my pension. Then the first grandmother is directly the second:

- Oh, yes, and I have two before and two after lunch.

- So they also have lunch?

What's the idea?

The main task is to identify a problematic situation and build your non-addressed speech around it. Since the problem is directly related not only to you, but also to those around you, then by saying something “in the air” on this topic, you definitely draw the attention of your potential interlocutor.

Then this is an opportunity to either hear some kind of “support” from him (from the series “yes, really, how is this possible...) or after a pause, having found eye contact with him, continue your seemingly addressless fiery monologue, but with him participation.

By making eye contact, you have the opportunity to directly address the person with a question and an affirmative phrase, thereby making the situation look as if you had already communicated before.

Example.

You complain out loud about Moscow traffic jams and, catching the eye of the girl on the left, sitting in her car, say:

- Horrible, right? How often does this happen in this area?

Thus, you force the person to answer you something, because remaining silent would be an ugly gesture on her part. Having answered even in the smallest way; “Yes, a nightmare. I’ve never seen anything like this here,” you already have the opportunity to develop your speech, but in the form of a dialogue, again throwing some targeted phrase and waiting for a response from your interlocutor:

- So it was the mayor who said that it is necessary to narrow the roads.

Here we get it.

— But it seems like he said the opposite (we can deliberately pretend that they were confused)

- Oh, yes! Confused. Well, it doesn’t change the essence, (pause) Do you think we’ll stand still for a long time?

- Good question! Yesterday I stood there for 3 hours.

(and here we already have a targeted dialogue, where both business participants understand that they are communicating with each other and trust is formed between them, after which we can easily move on to the acquaintance stage.)

The peculiarity of this method is that in addition to a very simple entry (in our country it is simply customary to condemn or criticize some processes out loud for others), it is exceptionally effective in terms of created loyalty at the beginning of a conversation.

An irritant is what now unites you and your interlocutor and the very thing that can inspire some trust. That is, you and I are in the same F, which means I can potentially trust you, since we have the same goals - to get out of this F.

Dispute

A controversial, but at the same time very effective and bold way to start a conversation with a group of new acquaintances.

Task: having overheard a conversation of a group of people, under the pretext of disagreement/agreement with their voiced opinion, wedge into the dialogue.

Example. You see a group of people. You overheard the dialogue and instead of: “Oh, excuse me, but can I distract you...”, you throw out the phrase:

“By the way, not really, he had completely different circumstances in the 19th century...”

What's the idea?

The task is to enter into dialogue through a counter-argument and create some kind of dispute. A dispute gives rise to a discussion, which results in a good opportunity to subsequently develop a dialogue in a still “faceless manner”: they don’t know you, you don’t know anyone, but at the same time there is interest in the ongoing discussion.

Example. To understand the effectiveness of the method, imagine yourself in the place of one of the group members:

You are standing near the entrance to the theater, waiting for your turn and at the same time discussing with your colleagues the technologies for drilling the underground tunnel of Elon Musk’s “future”. To which an unfamiliar young man, behind you, throws out the phrase: “And you know, this is not true... Or rather, not quite so... (And continues his thought)” No matter how true or false this phrase may seem, you would probably be interested in such a brave the act and harsh statement of a stranger. You become interested, which leads to the creation of a business discussion, within the framework of which it is worth doing everything right.

Firstly, immediately after you have finished your thought, without waiting for the group’s response, it is important to immediately apologize for interrupting and interrupting their conversation, citing the fact that you were “very surprised” or that “their statement made you think about ...", etc. Of course, it is bad form to interrupt someone else’s dialogue, especially a business group, so it is important to explain from the very beginning that you did this “not out of malice.”

Secondly, while you are already in the discussion itself, try not to lead it to an open confrontation of opinions. It is important that in a short dialogue someone turns out to be right, otherwise you can quarrel without getting to know each other. Therefore, if you feel that 10 minutes have already passed and you are still throwing counter-arguments at each other, it is better to be the first to suggest ending it here. This can be done with the phrase:

— Colleagues, perhaps we got carried away. I hope I didn't cause you any inconvenience. But I really enjoyed the discussion! I would be happy to continue the discussion elsewhere. By the way, (pitch + business card)

Thirdly, after having a constructive and pleasant conversation for everyone, it is important to end it correctly. There are no clear rules, but here I recommend once again (the second time) to apologize for the embedding and thank you for the communication. Then, depending on the reaction, transform the dialogue into a full-fledged acquaintance-dialogue with all members of the business group or quickly exchange contacts if people are in a hurry:

- Well, thank you colleagues for “straightening our brains” (laughter)... Once again, sorry for interrupting! Nice to meet you. By the way, we never met. Michael!…

Also, if there is a possibility that you can meet with them again within, say, an hour, for example, you are in line at the skating rink, then it is not necessary to meet and exchange contacts here and now. You can do this later:

- I'm glad it ended like this! I was very glad to communicate. Sorry to disturb you. I think we'll see you again. Let's see what Bykov filmed there :)
Summary:

The method is very good, only if you do it confidently and subsequently (immediately) apologize for it. A person has a very good first impression of you, at least simply because it is a courageous act: entering easily and naturally into a dialogue between several unfamiliar business people is a courageous act. Therefore, you are not afraid of being condemned, therefore this is not the first thing for you, therefore you are a very brave, businesslike and decisive person, which is possibly reflected in business. It's always good to do business with such a person.

Compliment

Task: enter into a direct dialogue with the interlocutor under the pretext of a socially acceptable remark, a compliment, and try to establish communication around him.

Example. Walking past the kitchen in the office:

- Wow! This is a tie :)

- Thank you:)

— As long as I’ve been working here, I’ve never seen anything like it... -:)

— You’re probably from the sales department: probably only accounts have these!

— Not really, I’m from PR.

- Come on! What does Elena Maksimovna (PR director) think about this?

— I promised to give a bonus if I made a corporate design of ties :)

(Then the dialogue may go into a discussion of the dress code of the department as a whole, after which you either calmly introduce yourself and get to know each other, or leave the dialogue and after a while, meeting the person again, get acquainted then)

Summary: the main task here is to please a person with a truly kind word. It is necessary to come up with a socially acceptable twist that will allow you, on the one hand, to win you over, and on the other hand, to easily continue the dialogue and start communicating directly with your business interlocutor. In this case, a compliment is a great opportunity. The main recommendation is not to focus only on how to give a compliment, think about what you can say after it. That is, make a plan for further dialogue.

And, of course, these should not be super obvious connections like “cool pants - where did you get them?”

Surveillance

Task: track any action of a person, a comment on which, on your part, will be considered as one of the following: joke, approval, praise, help.

Example. You are in the lobby of Company X's office, sitting on the couch, waiting for a meeting. Opposite you is a man in a business suit, trying to figure out how the coffee machine works. He can be seen unsuccessfully looking for a hole to accept bills. Instead of silently observing and smiling to yourself at your potential interlocutor’s misfire, you can comment on it out loud:

- Yes, and a little lower!

- Exactly! Sorry, it just seemed like help was needed here :)

- Yes indeed! :)

(The interlocutor sits down in his seat opposite, after which we briefly discuss the object of our comment)

— Just literally 10 minutes ago I was trying to understand how this thing works.

- Something new, I’ve never seen it...

Summary: track some action of a person that you can comment on positively. Ideally, if it will help. Next, have a short dialogue about this incident and move on to a personal acquaintance. Don't be afraid to express your opinion out loud, because if it is done politely, it is more a sign of self-confidence than bad manners.

Group penetration

Task: while at a conference or some other event where the atmosphere is conducive to communication, approach a group of people, carefully taking a position next to the circle (if it is a circle) and visually drawing attention to yourself, say one of the following phrases:

— Hello, can I warm your ears here? :)

- Friends, did I hear right or did you say that...

— Good afternoon, colleagues! May I join? :)

- Hello! Who's the last one? :)

What's the idea?

In general, if the situation predisposes to communication, then any neutral phrase expressed in a polite form will do. I recommend using more humorous phrases, since they allow you to immediately stand out among a group of people and attract attention.

Challenge

Task: Under the pretext of a networking argument, quest or challenge, get to know one of the conference/event participants.

- Good afternoon! You know, I made a bet with the organizers that I could meet 10 new people in 10 minutes. Can you help?

- Good afternoon! I was told that in order to enter parliament I needed to shake more hands. I would be happy to shake yours. Michael:)

What's the idea?

The method greatly helps beginners who experience problems, in particular, severe stress during the first approach. Phrases of this type create a kind of protective mask and allow you to feel more confident in communication, like: “It’s not me, they forced me.” What, do you think I decided to approach you like this on my own?

I'm not a fool :)”

Sincerity

Task: without any pretexts, masks, beautiful funny phrases, approach and directly tell the person about your desire to get to know him.

- I'm sorry. Can I meet you? My name is Mikhail.

- Hello! Let's get acquainted! Michael.

- So, I won’t miss the opportunity to meet you, Alexander. My name is Mikhail...
What's the idea?

Sometimes a straightforward style is best because it directly demonstrates the other person's clear desire to get to know you. This is always pleasant and more pleasant than if you were considered as an object of dispute.

Non-verbal

Task: non-verbally convey readiness to get to know a potential interlocutor and incite him to communicate.

What's the idea?

Work on your facial expressions and learn to attract the audience's attention to you, creating loyalty without phrases. To do this, focus first on two things: your smile and the placement of your eyebrows.

Example. You made eye contact with your potential interlocutor. At this point, raise your eyebrows slightly and smile a little. For a person, this will be a signal that you have paid attention to him and that you are open to communication.

Don’t think that nonverbal communication tools are only suitable for girls. The only question is that men initially have a much worse command of body language than girls, so for them this tool can sometimes seem overwhelming.

End!

I hope you found this article useful, unique in its own way, and easy to follow. Do you want to learn how to establish the right business dialogues and the art of building business connections? Then you might be interested in our

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