Cultural background
The United Kingdom has a history full of events, people there are very fond of their traditions, customs and rules, they like everything in order. The country started as a huge colonial Empire that owned a bigger part of the world, these days the UK is a Constitutional Monarchy. The country is economically stable and is a very attractive potential business partner.
The British are known for their politeness. This is a very important part of British communication and culture. Try to avoid asking questions directly, straightforward questions will find cold responses and will lead the conversation to become more distant. Avoid aggressive dialogue; this will weaken your bargaining position (Katz, 2008, p. 4).
The British are proud of their subtle and witty sense of humor. Besides, they may use humor as a tool, making a conversation indirect, which is typical for the British style of communication.
The style of business negotiations
Small talk and icebreakers should not be neglected in a dialogue with the British. A simple talk about British weather or a complaint about traffic and public transportation will help you develop a better contact (Slideshare, 2012, para. 2).
The famous “stiff upper lip” term means that the British do not like to show their emotions, no matter if they are negative or positive (Lebourg 2014, para. 2). In the UK, just like in the US, strong eye contact shows honesty and determination.
Gift-giving is not going to be taken well; it creates unwanted pressure (Kwinessential 2013).
The conversation should be spoken in a calm tone. Avoid raising your voice for whatever reason, being loud is considered impolite and ill-bred. Always remember about good manners, they are extremely important to the British, they have an impression that Americans are too casual. Keep distance, avoid touching, the exception is a handshake, in Britain handshake is an official form of greeting for both men and women. Make sure you are not interfering with another person’s intimate space (Lebourg, 2014, para. 5).
Try not to talk too much; the British do not appreciate too long lectures or meaningless conversations, or vague messages and descriptions. Listening more and speaking less is a feature that will characterize you positively to the British partners.
British society appreciates success and competition. They respect hard work, ambitions and achievements, but they will not accept showing off or acting arrogant because of your achievements.
Making business with the British you must remember that they like to have everything planned, but their planning is not detailed, main thing is to have a clear final goal (The Hofstede Centre, n.d., para. 10).
The famous British punctuality must not be taken lightly. There should never be a delay in a meeting with the British. Being longer than ten minutes late will be considered rude and irresponsible. Rushing is also unacceptable. Once the rules are established and the time is set, they will expect you to follow them and be punctual, they will not be happy about any changes (Kowol & Szumiel, n.d., p. 4).
It is better to establish the date of your future meeting with the British company representatives beforehand. The best is if you contact them and schedule the meeting a week in advance.
One of the most appreciated ways to work with the British is offering them your offers and terms in written form, you may open your dialogue this way – this will be effective and may help make your process of bargaining shorter, the British do not like long negotiations.
Though, the length of the process of negotiations will vary depending on the type of the company. For traditional British organizations, thoroughness is important, they will take time collecting information and rushing them will definitely lead to negative results. Younger companies will be moving fast, sometimes unexpectedly fast (Katz, 2008, p. 3).
If you are using presentations, be ready to share copies of your material. The key messages of your work and your offers must be clear and attractive. Also make sure you are well-prepared to answer questions, always be polite and stay calm even if the situation starts looking more casual.
The British respect a team of negotiators, but the team should not be a crowd, sending too many members to a negotiation meeting will lead to suspicions.
After the meeting and dressing style
A very important part of business meetings with the British is what happens after the meeting is over. Never reject an invitation to a pub, joining your new business partner for a beer is extremely appreciated in the United Kingdom. It is a binding part of the business meeting and refusing to participate in it may seem suspicious or offensive to your partner. You also must not bring up work topics at the after-business part.
Finally, remember about the “dress code”. You must never attend a business meeting with British people wearing too casual clothes. Wearing jeans also is unacceptable. Your clothes should be stylish, but at the same time conservative and classic. It is preferable to wear darker colors and formal suits.
Reference List
Katz, L. (2008). Negotiating International Business – United Kingdom. Web.
Kowol, A. & Szumiel, E. (n. d.) United Kingdom: Communication, Negotiations and Cultural Background. Web.
Kwintessential: Cross-Cultural Negotiations. (2013). Web.
Lebourg, J. (2014). International Business Negotiation – UK Social Behaviors and Business Practices. Web.
Slideshare: International Business Negotiations. (2012). Web.
The Hofstede Centre. (n. d.). Web.