Does it matter where you negotiate a deal in determining the final outcome.  As in real restate, location can be a vital component of negotiations.  In deal making, the answer to the question“Your place or mine?” is never automatic. It requires careful study of the negotiation ahead of you.

Negotiating at Home.  Most people prefer to negotiate at their own offices like an athlete with their home field.  First,you gain the advantage of familiarity with the negotiating environment. You know where everything is located, from reliable secretarial services to secure areas for private consultation. Your counterpart, on the other hand, runs the risk of unfamiliarity.  You also have the upper hand by having the other side come to your home field.

Negotiating at home also allows you to control the environment, including the selection and arrangement of the meeting room, the seating of participants at the table, and the nature and timing of hospitality and social events. Playing host gives you the opportunity to impress the other side with your company’s resources. Finally, negotiating at home is cheaper, eliminating travel costs and saving executive time.

Whereas host negotiators can usually continue to handle other job demands while participating in talks, a visiting negotiator cannot do the same.Negotiating at home also spares you the pressures of being away from your family, friends, and daily routines. Visiting executives may tend to make a deal or break off talks more quickly than if they were negotiating on their own turf-often to their disadvantage.

On the other hand, the home team can not use the threat of leaving and headed home.  This explicit or implied threat can carry a huge weight.

Negotiating on the road. At first blush,negotiating on your counterpart’s turf seems to offer only disadvantages:travel can be costly; the environment is unfamiliar and uncontrollable; lines of communication to your home office may be slow, uncertain, and insecure; and,when traveling a great distance, you face the psychological pressures of being away from home.

On the other hand,when you’re the seller, often the only way to bring your product or service to the other side’s attention is to show up at his office. The choice of a negotiating site also has symbolic value. By entering your counterpart’s territory, you show your serious intent and strong desire to make deal-factors that can be invaluable in persuading him to sign a contract.  By negotiating on the road, you also put the other side at ease which may provide you an opportunity.

The most important reason to negotiate on the other side’s territory is that it gives you opportunities to learn. When making deals, executives are laying the foundation for a continuing relationship-which depends crucially on how well parties know each other. A vital purpose of any business negotiation is to allow both sides to learn about each other, their businesses, and the conditions in which they must operate. In this respect, the home field doesn’t hold an advantage

In the end,negotiating at home seems to offer you the most benefits but if necessary you can turn negotiating on the road to your benefit.