Example South Africa

‘Europeans have clocks, Africans have time’

In Germany, Mr Meier waits at the bus station, boards his bus at 7.47 and arrives on schedule 23 minutes later at his destination (after 3 stops) at 8.10. He then walks for 12 minutes and arrives at his office at 8.23, 7 minutes ahead of his meeting.

In South Africa meanwhile Mr Mokoena boards his bus at about 7.30, but the bus does not depart until all the seats are occupied, as otherwise the journey will not be viable. When will he arrive? Nobody can say for sure. But he will get there sooner or later.

A power outage for a few minutes in Germany? A disaster! In South Africa the experts are told that the service is good if the power is back after a few hours. No internet, no productivity, no way of corresponding? Well, that’s just how it is and everyone tries to make the best of it. Will the sun be shining tomorrow? This question isn’t often asked in South Africa. The mood of the people is similar, as is their approach to living: always with a smile, taking each day as it comes.

In our seminars we will show you the specific effects of different mentalities, cultures and outlooks on your negotiations. We will prepare you for what you need to take note of in a negotiation and for what you should definitely avoid in order to come out on top.

Even within Europe the differences are huge and significant – which is why we also offer a range of intra-European negotiation seminars. This fact alone demonstrates how important it is to specialise and to prepare oneself for the various requirements. If you already negotiate with European customers or suppliers, or if this is one of your future goals, we can provide you with the necessary support and preparation to do so.

Aside from the intercultural aspects, the specific negotiation methods and techniques to use are also central themes of our seminars. Targeted questioning, the profiling methods used by the police, and negotiations in extreme situations such as hostage-taking round out the range of topics discussed.

Content of the seminars

• Classification into country categories (north/south/east/west) with specific criteria
• Basics of negotiation psychology
• Emotional self-management when dealing with various different mentalities
• Special questioning techniques for negotiating taking into account the relevant cultural aspects
• How to correctly formulate demands securely and tactically and introduce these into the negotiation
• Correctly interpreting behaviour, taking into account the relevant culture and business practices
• Recognising and working with non-verbal intercultural signals such as body language and facial expressions
• Special negotiation methods and techniques for very difficult negotiations, e.g. using the FBI Principle