“There will be no more traditional shopping in the future.”

Gerd Kerkhoff and Matthias Schranner talk about the implementation of strategic negotiation.

Mr. Kerkhoff, Procurement 4.0, Request for Proposal and online actions. Where are the people in the negotiations of the future?

Thanks to digitalization, standard processes will largely run without people. The idea is to exclude human errors, including in purchasing. In addition to this digital area, there will be room for negotiations that cannot be captured digitally. These negotiations will be conducted systematically, with clear concepts in order to remove them from the personal, situational perspective.

When people negotiate in systems, experience and gut feeling are excluded.

It will always be a combination of systems and human evaluation, whereby social competence must be brought into the negotiation system. It requires an interplay of human experience, personality and the ability to understand the situation.

So no more free negotiations, but rather a matter of following checklists?

It's about creating an objectively good result. Every negotiator presents his result as the best possible. It's like a reflex - this feeling arises from the situation and is therefore a purely subjective assessment. And that's exactly what we need to get away from. If I have defined a systemic approach in advance, I have to follow it during the negotiation instead of thinking of something new in the situation.

Let's assume we had to create a job description for the professional buyer of the future, what skills and abilities will be important?

We need three types of negotiators who work together as a team; one person alone will not be able to cover all the requirements. Firstly, the person who represents the company to the outside world and is charismatic and communicative. Secondly, we need a strategic thinker and thirdly, an implementer who can be relied upon.

This corresponds to our FBI model – the negotiator who faces the conflict directly at the table and the commander who takes a bird's eye view and thinks strategically.

Yes, the trick will be to lead the negotiation at the negotiating table and to have someone on the team who maintains the meta-level and strategically leads the negotiation. This person creates a safety net by having a good connection to the other side.

It also takes a certain level of empathy to read the information between the lines. Can empathy be learned or taught?

Empathy is extremely important because it builds trust and bridges bridges. From my personal perspective, empathy or charisma is something like DNA - you either have it or you don't. I don't know whether you can learn it. But I am sure that you have to be interested in and enjoy people.

There is this one second in a negotiation during which you have to offer cooperation. If you miss this second, you will run straight into a dead end. Our experience has shown that negotiators who are too clear in their instructions stick to the instructions and do not see this second.

First of all, it is important to know that this second exists. Anticipating this point is then a matter of feeling. Anyone who knows this point must be able to separate themselves from their own self-righteousness. Because self-righteousness and exaggerating the conflict destroy the negotiation.

Being dogmatic is typically German. You have offices in nine countries. What experiences have you had in the global negotiation processes?

For me, the way in which one conducts a negotiation is completely independent of the place where I am. The negotiation process is identical worldwide, the process steps are the same everywhere. Social structures are much more important than the cultural component. For example, how hierarchical a society is - it is important to approach the negotiating partner respectfully and in a culturally appropriate manner.

Finally, let’s take a look into the future.

The aim in the coming years will be to use digitalization to make purchasing prices more objective and measurable. This means that in the future there will be no more traditional purchasing. Digitalization is based on collected data that is linked to algorithms. Indices are placed on this and then all prices follow the market. There will therefore be no more traditional purchasing for anything that can be digitized. For the remaining cases - large investments, M&A or complex procurement - professional experts of all kinds are needed who can lead negotiations to a successful outcome.

NEGOTIATE. The magazine for global decision makers 

Edition: 2019

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