When negotiating with French counterparts, prepare to explain and defend your positions with substantive reasoning. Simply stating what you want or asserting your demands is insufficient. You need to articulate why your position makes sense—what analysis supports it, what principles justify it, how it addresses the situation appropriately. French negotiators engage at the level of ideas and arguments, and they expect you to do the same.
This means being prepared for genuine discussion of merits, not just repetition of positions. If you cannot explain the reasoning behind your position, you will lose credibility.
If you engage seriously with the other party’s arguments—acknowledging valid points, addressing concerns substantively—you build the credibility that successful negotiation requires. Come prepared with analysis and justification, and expect to use them.
Comments