I recently read How to Win Friends and Influence People. It was written by Dale Carnegie, an American author, in the 1930s. And I kept thinking “this is a good description of how to adapt to the mentalities of Chinese suppliers!”
Here are a few excerpts from this book:
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
- Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
- Give honest and sincere appreciation.
- Arouse in the other person an eager want.
- Never show others that you are not interested in what they have to say.
And here are some other principles from that book, among the “Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking”:
Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say “You’re Wrong.”
Begin in a friendly way.
Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
As the author keeps reminding us, it works. No need to act like the bad guy.
Yet, Western purchasers often act aggressively when negotiating prices or terms with their Chinese suppliers.
In Comparative Negotiating Styles 101: US and Europeans in China, Andrew Hupert describes how Americans tend to approach negotiations and how it plays out:
American deal-makers in China like to start out from a position of strength, which some negotiators equate with power and toughness. Their plan is to intimidate early and then become nicer and more cooperative later on, as a concession. To Americans, the relationship is the reward. Unfortunately, this often triggers aggressively competitive behavior from the Chinese side, since they interpret the initial American position (aggressive tough-guy) as a rejection of Chinese relationship-building overtures. Even though the American plans on ending up with a cordial relationship, it can be hard to put this train back on track if there is a misunderstanding in the early days.
It strikes me as incredibly counter-productive.
What do you think?
The 4 top points would definitely be a good checklist in dealing with Chinese suppliers. I don’t understand why American buyers…. and really I think it’s Western buyers in general, start out as bullies when dealing with China. Certainly not all, but there is this mindset that the supplier “owes them something”.
It makes more sense if that is the way you do things in your own country (although I personally don’t agree with that either) but when dealing cross culturally and cross-language, being humble and patient can go a long way. It seems many buyers are so worried of a supplier walking all over them, that they digress to the other extreme of being too self-protective which comes off abrasive and rude.
Good food for thought, Renaud – another good read.
Jacob,
I think some buyers want the supplier to feel their self-confidence, and to think “wow, this is a really big buyer, we should give him priority and the best pricing”.
It might have worked a few years back…
Jacob:
There has been a disparity between buyers and sellers for as long as there have been commodities. Compound this with language and cultural nuance and there will always be mistrust, misunderstanding and misalignment.
When we deal with Asian factories, we feel that once relationships have been established it is good to deal mostly in writing. This seems to help with language barriers and documents requirements more succinctly. Not that there are not problems, but with all supply relationships there is always an initial mistrust on both sides. Suppliers want to make sure that they get paid; within terms and that there is profit at the end of the day. Purchasers want to make sure they are paying a fair price, they will receive what they require and that the end product will be free of defects.
To that end, there is a certain level of apprehension and posturing that must happen to make sure that everyone gets what they need. Is it right, probably not, is it just a North American/Asian phenomenon, absolutely not. However, by adding culture and language to the mix these can contribute to the biases that are seen and shown on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Ben,
Thanks for checking in. Interesting perspective.
There sure is initial mistrust. I understand why some buyers feel a need for posturing. And it seems we all agree that bullying Chinese suppliers is not effective, right?
I’m just now seeing Ben’s comment so thought I’d add on a bit more. Some good points and Ben gave us some historical context of the buyer / vendor ups and downs. Yes, good old fashion “horse tradin'” and “dickering” have gone on since the beginning. Pirates, Arab Nomads, Eastern Traders, Europeans in the New World, you name it. But in modern times and as we’re more “enlightened” and “civilized” (I say that tongue in cheek), you would expect a foundational level of civility in supplier and buyer relationships.
I’ve seen too many emails, from the West to the East that are embarrassing; buyers being ugly for little to no reason and this goes behind posturing. As you said, could be cultural results, bias, etc…. but some of it goes beyond posturing and is the attitude that ” our inquiry is more important than your business.” As China is growing, post-economic Western downturn, the overseas inquiries don’t hold as much weight as they once did, but buyers continue to act like they are the most important thing to happen during that supplier’s day. It’s funny that the West gets up in arms on Apple audits, factory compliance, factory “ethics”, but doesn’t bat an eye when comes to basic one on one communication. The quality assurance and “fair treatment” start on a one on one basis.
Professional and polite as I’m sure all will agree go a very long way (still wise as a serpent though….I’m not talking naivete).
Factories are willing to assist for lower volume projects and extend more favor because of such relationship building.
BTW: excellent advise and reminder to anyone reading the comments – as you said, get everything in writing.
I agree with Ben Baker about the initial mistrust between buyer and supplier, and that needs to be overcome if a reliable long term business relationship can be developed.
Regarding the four points from the book by Dale Carnegie (Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain – Give honest and sincere appreciation – Arouse in the other person an eager want – Never show others that you are not interested in what they have to say) I think we need to be cautious.
Clearly buyer will normally get more by showing respect to the supplier. But not all suppliers work in good faith. So it is also very important not to be naive. The four points somehow can be taken as a naive approach. In fact, applying them without getting fooled by unscrupulous suppliers requires a lot of discipline and self-control – probably the reason why so many stressed out purchaser loose it (smile).
For instance, it is fully normal for a buyer to complain and criticize a supplier that does not deliver what was committed. Of course it is better if we have the facts to prove it and we are not just rambling about how f****g Chinese supplier always deliver crap.
Also, when a supplier is not acting in good faith, or is mostly looking for a quick buck, there is no point in trying to arouse anything in their mind that will help the buyer.
So, I would say, the four points are important, for “qualified” suppliers, not all of them. And still, I would keep an “I respect you and trust you, really, but you know what, I still want to check” attitude. It has worked very well for my last 15 years here.
Etienne,
I agree with your points above.
Good to read and share.
Etienne, I totally agree. First-time buyers tend to be naive, so this advice is dangerous for them.