Please Share Your Thoughts on Turkey
Mar 1, 08 Posted in Asia, Turkey
If you would like to find out more about how to negotiate effectively in Turkey, take a look at the corresponding Country Section from the book Negotiating International Business by Lothar Katz.
If you have any experience to share (or questions you would like answered) relating to
2 Responses to “Please Share Your Thoughts on Turkey”
By Karin on Jun 13, 08
I recently had an interesting experience trying to negotiate buying a Turkish rug in Istanbul. The seller could have been from New York, was approximately 40 years old and went to great lengths to express his “American style” of negotiation, based on years of driving throughout the U.S. selling rugs from the back of a truck. He waxed eloquent about “wanting to make friends, not wanting to sell a rug. Because at the end of the day, if I’ve got $1million in my pocket and I’m drowning and a poor man walks buy, it doesn’t matter how much money I have if I need him to rescue me.” After over 2 hours and much apple tea, we followed the advice of every book and website we had seen and offered 50% of his first offer. He tuned from Jekyl to Hyde and immediately threw us out of his shop, yelling at us for wasting the sweat and time of his assistants, accusing us of insulting him and his coworkers, then getting even angrier because we didn’t ask for his business card. In reading your description of negotiating in Turkey, it mentions that “saving face” and diplomatic restraint is essential as well as their enjoyment of bargaining and haggling, so I don’t understand what his tactic was in attempting to embarrass us. Did he think he would humiliate us into a rug purchase? We walked away in shock, and are still not sure what went wrong.
By Lothar on Jun 16, 08
Hi Karin, It’s a bit hard to diagnose the situation without having experienced it or knowing a lot about it. The issue may simply have been one of you doing something that hurt the seller’s pride; as I point out in the book, that’s easy to do with Turks, who are usually immensely proud.
There is another possibility, though, which I think likelier from what you describe: the person’s response was essentially an act designed to intimidate you and get you to accept much worse conditions, and the guy turned irate when you did not respond as he had planned. What makes this one likelier is the part about the business card, which makes no sense unless he thought you’d still come back to buy.
What can be puzzling about Turkey, as well as cultures such as Russia, Ukraine, and others, is that in negotiations the normally face-saving communication style may suddenly turn much more aggressive and almost hostile. Keep in mind that people in these cultures often view negotiating as a game both sides are playing. That’s why the person’s reaction may not have revealed any emotions-only negotiation tactics.
Sorry the situation didn’t work for you, but I would try a similar approach next time you’re in Turkey.