advanced theory and practice in sport marketing - Marshalls University

There are a number of telltale signs that can help the sport marketing professional
to recognize whether negotiations are progressing, and decisions are
nearing their conclusion. In most foreign countries, as more high-level executives
join the conversations, a decision is closer to being reached. As a result,
questions about the situation become more direct, whereas most questions at
the beginning of negotiations tend to be broad and generic in nature. Another
sign of success in negotiations is that attitudes become softer and more reasonable,
and often results in the parties taking more time to study the issues at
hand. A final sign that the decision making process is nearing conclusion is that
the language used becomes less formal and more personable.
Succeeding in Alternative Dispute Resolutions
To succeed in alternative dispute resolutions on the international and global
stage takes a lot of preparation and patience. To start, the sport organization
must select the most appropriate individuals to be on the negotiating team.
While this often does include members of the sport marketing department,
there is often a need to secure outside consultants experienced in negotiations
with the specific country or region.
After the team is selected, negotiation preliminaries must be addressed. From
an internal sport organization standpoint, this includes assessing the situation
and individuals involved in the negotiation, and reviewing the facts involved in
the negotiation and creating an agenda. In addition, the sport organization
must consider alternative solutions and concessions willing to be made. From
an external view, there are a number of aspects that must be agreed upon prior
to the start of the negotiations. They include the location and physical arrangements,
the number of individuals or groups to be involved, whether the meeting
will be open to the public or closed door, the level of confidentiality
required, and limitations on time per session.
Once all the rules have been put into place, the time has come to “sit at the
table.” One can think of the negotiation table like a football game – four quarters.
The first quarter involves non-task sounding, where the first 5–10 minutes
is used to welcome the participants and briefly talk about topics other than the
business at hand, including family, sports, news, and the economy. It is important
to understand the background of the other parties involved in case certain
topics would be inappropriate because of their culture. Also important is the
time spent on non-task discussions as the time Americans spend in this area
domestically is considered very short as compared to most places around the
world. In fact, in cultures ranging from Japan to Brazil, the time spent on nontask
sounding is crucial to the overall success of the negotiation, and these cultures
will not do business with a salesperson – they want to do business with
someone they know, feel comfortable with, and may even consider to be a
friend at the end of the negotiation.
The end of the first quarter, depending on the culture, could be a significant
amount of time. In American time, this may seem to be wasted time. However
from an international and global perspective, it is often viewed as being
time well spent. At an appropriate time that can only be judged being at the
INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL MARKETING IN SPORT 341