Purchasing and Negotiation Training

Robert Menard, Certified Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant

Negotiating in English can be a challenge for most of us.  But consider the plight of those who negotiate with us whose native language is other than English?  Better still, suppose you are the one who must negotiate in a language other than your native English? 

That last question may be more hypothetical than actual because most Americans speak only English.  The issue of foreign language fluency has always been important and is gaining in influence as trade of global scope is so commonplace. As western businesses increasingly outsource to low cost countries, the foreign language fluency has assumed a greater prominence. 

The language of business 

The old joke is that someone who speaks three languages is trilingual, two languages is bilingual, and only one language is American. In reality, the US has always been the world’s most productive society.  The American GDP not only dwarfs that of all other countries.  When divided by the population, the comparison is even more favorable.  For example, the approximate 14 trillion dollar GDP of the US divided by our 305 million population yields a GDP per capita of almost $45 thousand.  By comparison, China has a GDP of almost 4 billion but a population of 1.325 billion which yields a per capita GDP of about $3 thousand, a mere six percent of the US.  

It is little wonder then that the rest of the world wants to sell and negotiate in English, the language of the biggest producer and consumer on earth. 

For a whimsical radio insight on the subject of foreign negotiation, click AmericaTonightwithRobertMenard.mp3 to hear Kate Delaney, host of America Tonight, interview me.  America Tonight has the largest overnight listening audience, topping out at about 1.6 million.