<


Home - Recruitment Techniques - Management Techniques - Online Computer Training - 





Please click here to visit our sponsor

Managing the Sales Negotiation Process


How many times have you heard:

  • "You've got to drop your price by 10% or we will have no choice but to go with your competition."

  • "You will have to make an exception to your policy if you want our business."

  • "I know that you have good quality and service, but so do your competitors. What we need to focus on here is your pricing."

  • "I agree that those special services you keep bringing up would be nice, but we simply don't have the funds to purchase them. Could you include them at no additional cost?"

Every time you hear statements like these, you are in the middle of a difficult sales negotiation. How you handle that negotiation will determine whether or not you close the sale and how profitable that sale will be. In order to give you a real edge every time, I have listed below some key points taken from my sales negotiation training seminar.

Don't Believe Everything You See and Hear

Part of a good salesperson's skill is to learn to read people and situations very quickly. However, when it gets down to negotiating, you have to take everything you see and hear with a grain of salt. Buyers are good negotiators, and thus they are good actors. You may be the only person who has what she needs, but everything she does and says, from body language to the words she uses, will be designed to lead you to believe that unless she gets an extra 10% off, she's going with the competition. Be skeptical. Be suspicious. Test, probe, and see what happens.

Don't Offer Your Bottom Line Early in the Negotiation

How many times have you been asked to "give me your best price"? Have you ever given your best price only to discover that the buyer still wanted more? You have to play the game. It's expected. If you could drop your price by 10%, start out with 0%, or 2%, or 4%. Leave yourself room to negotiate some more. Who knows - you may get it for a 2% reduction. You might have to go all the way to 10%, but often you won't. A little stubbornness pays big dividends.

Get Something in Return for Your Added Value

What if you discover that the buyer wants to be able to track his expenditures for your products or services in a way that is far more detailed and complex than is standard for your industry? What if your account tracking system is set up in a way that you can provide that information at essentially no cost to you? Often the salesperson's overwhelming temptation is to jump in and say, "Oh, we can do that. That's no problem." Before you do, however, think about your options. You could throw it in as part of the package and try to build good will. Or you could take a deep breath and try something like, "That's a difficult problem that will require some effort on our part, but it's doable."

In the second case, without committing, you've told the buyer it is possible. You may not be able to get him to pay extra for it but you may be able to use it as a bargaining chip in resisting price concessions. Which way you choose to go will depend on who your customer is and on the situation. However, you do have options.

Sell and Negotiate Simultaneously

Think of selling and negotiating as two sides of the same coin. Sometimes one side is face up, and sometimes the other side, but they are always both there. This is particularly true in your earliest contacts with the buyer. The face the buyer sees is that of a salesperson demonstrating features and benefits. The hidden face is that of a negotiator probing and seeking out information that may be invaluable later should issues like price, terms, quality, delivery, etc. have to be negotiated.

Be Patient

Finally, and most important, be patient. Sales is a high energy, fast moving business. Patience is one commodity that is in relatively short supply, but if you are impatient in a negotiation, you'll lose your shirt. If I'm negotiating with you and I know that you are impatient, I will hold out just a little longer, no matter how desperate I am to make a deal with you. As long as I know you are in a hurry, I'll wait.

So be patient. Take the time that you need, don't rush to give in, don't show your anxiety, stay cool and don't panic. Negotiation is a process and a game. Use the process and play the game. You'll be astonished at the difference that it makes!

(c) Michael Schatzki - 2004. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Michael Schatzki is a master negotiator who, for over 20 years, has provided sales negotiation training seminars and coaching for thousands of people in the U.S. and globally. More than 75% of Mike's programs are for satisfied, repeat customers. The Negotiation Dynamics(r) system really works. Check out all of Mike's articles at http://www.NegotiationDynamics.com. Mike can be reached at (888) 766-3530.

Mike@NegotiationDynamics.com



BBC News

First class war for Business Post's Guy Buswell
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - May 10, 2008
He runs four miles every day and I do three Buswell is chief executive of Business Post, which collects letters from the likes of Vodafone and HSBC, ...
Lawson - UK Postal Deregulation A Disaster Hell Mail
Watchdog rules out cut in post deliveries Scotland on Sunday
Plan to axe Saturday post denied BBC News
Independent - Telegraph.co.uk
all 503 news articles


Fox Business Refines Lineup in Daytime
New York Times, United States - 48 minutes ago
By BRIAN STELTER Viewers of the Fox Business Network — and it remains unclear how many there are — may notice a number of changes on Monday. ...


Business confidence falls
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 11 minutes ago
BUSINESS conditions might have stabilised in April but confidence continued to worsen, signalling difficult times ahead, a survey says. ...


ABS CBN News

Business fears lynch mob unleashed on Meralco
Inquirer.net, Philippines - 2 hours ago
(Meralco), the country’s biggest electricity distributor, has struck fear in the business sector. Some business groups are apprehensive that they, too, ...
GSIS chief warned on Meralco breakup plan ABS CBN News
Strategic transparency Manila Times
Electric face-off at PowerCom ABS CBN News
Inquirer.net - Inquirer.net
all 189 news articles


Small Business Calendar
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 4 hours ago
Discover if your business meets city standards on fire safety, public health and zoning. SCORE business consultations. 10 am to 1:30 pm, Minneapolis Central ...
Career Calendar Minneapolis Star Tribune
all 2 news articles


Business people
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 1 hour ago
Halleland Health Consulting, Minneapolis, named Peter Bianco director of lifescience business development. He was president of Bioscience Business ...


The business centre solution
Malaysia Star, Malaysia - 2 hours ago
William Willems, The Regus Group country general manager for South East Asia, said that working from business centres reduced the burden of property ...


Ratan Tata among biggest brains in business, says US magazine
Hindu, India - 15 hours ago
The list of '73 Biggest Brains in Business', compiled by business publication Conde Nast Portfolio, features Tata for his 2500 dollar car--Nano, ...
Tata in world’s biggest business brains list Thaindian.com
Sonia, Tata, Nooyi among Time's 100 most influential people Hindustan Times
all 20 news articles


Business confidence keeps slipping
The Australian, Australia - 10 minutes ago
AUSTRALIAN business confidence continued to fall in April, the latest National Australia Bank survey showed today. For the second consecutive month, ...


Your one-stop shop for Bay Area business events is at sfgate.com ...
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - May 10, 2008
This is Small Business Week in San Francisco, and more than a dozen events are scheduled across the city. The kickoff event is Flavors of San Francisco, ...

Business - Google News

home|Learn Sales Management|Learn-Telesales|Site map Distance Education at ICS

© 2006 www.elearn-university.org