Archive for March, 2009
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
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A Telephone Is A Two-Edged Blade For Sales Negotiators
What’s your mental picture of a typical sales negotiation? When you close your eyes do you see a lushly carpeted board room with a large oval table in the center and padded leather chairs all around it? If so, then in most cases you are sadly mistaken.
An amazing number of sales negotiations occur over the telephone. Everyone has one and in fact in this day and age of mobile phones we all seem to have more than one phone. Given that by using the phone you can reach someone directly at almost any time, phones have become an important tool in negotiating sales.
However, as with any tool, a phone can be a danger to any negotiator’s hope of success. Using a phone to negotiate can be quick and easy, but that’s actually part of the problem. I’m not telling you to not use the phone, I’m just saying that you need to watch out when you do. Here are some of the things that can go wrong when you use the phone to negotiate a sale:
- Deal / No Deal: Because you can’t look the other side in the eye when you are negotiating with them on the phone, it’s entirely possible that you may conclude the call thinking that you have a deal when you really don’t.
- Can You Hear Me Now?: What you think that you are saying is not necessarily what the other side is hearing. However, since you are on a phone, there is no way for you to realize that they have gotten the wrong message.
- What Did You Say?: Often when we are negotiating on the phone, we are out and about. Although we may reach agreement, it won’t count until such time as we write it down. That may be hours later and what we write down may be different from what we agreed to.
Once again, the phone is a powerful sales negotiation tool; however, you have to be careful how you use it in order to make sure that you don’t get burned.
Have you ever used the phone as part of a sales negotiation? Did you have any communications problems? Were the problems on your side or on the other side? When did you first realize that there was a problem? How did you finally resolve this problem? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.
Tags: art of negotiation, communication, communications, contract agreement, deal, deals, how to deal, ideas, money, negotiating skills, negotiation, negotiation skills, negotiation style, negotiation tips, negotiations, price, sales, sales negotiation, sales negotiations, salesman, saleswoman, telephone
Posted in communication skills | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Sales Negotiators Know How To Use Concessions
You can never say it too many times: in order to reach an agreement with the other side during a sales negotiation, you ALWAYS have to make some sort of concession(s). The trick to doing this correctly is to make sure that you don’t make so many concessions that when a deal is struck that you’re left feeling that you didn’t get a good deal.
Once upon a time I was in the process of moving to start a new job and had to sell my house. I had found an interested buyer and we were in the processing of negotiating a selling price. We had gotten pretty close to an agreement, but we were not quite there.
I knew that all of the appliances in the house were pretty much on their last legs, and I was concerned that the buyer was going to ask me to replace them as a part of the deal. I has already moved so that would have been a big inconvenience to contract out the work, oversee it, and pay for it. However, the buyer only came back and asked me to replace the hot water heaters. I negotiated just paying him cash to have him take care of it and then we were able to strike a deal.
[Editors Note: I later found out that he pocketed the cash that I gave him, didn't fix the hot water heaters which were in the attic, and shortly thereafter they failed and flooded the house. Ouch - there's a lesson in there somewhere]
Here are few additional guidelines on how to make concessions work for you during your next sales negotiation:
- Try to not negotiate using so-called “funny money” – taxes, credit cards, monthly payments, and interest rates. Stick to the real stuff that everyone understands.
- Understand and use the power of the word “no”. All too many sales negotiators are afraid to use this word. If you use it over and over again, eventually the other side will come to believe that you really mean it. Persistence pays!
- In the heat of a sales negotiation, it can be easy to lose track of what really matters to you. Make sure that you keep a list of what’s important to you (and what’s important to the other side) and look at it often.
- If you make a concession that you later on decide was a bad idea, have the courage to step back from that concession. Remember that until the sale is signed for, everything can be re-negotiated. Not stepping back from a previous concession because of pride is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make.
- Throttle the other side’s expectations. You are in charge of how many concessions you make and how fast you make them. If you give too much away too soon, then the other side will start to expect even more.
When you negotiate, which of these suggestions do you think is the most important? Did I leave anything off of my list? Should anything be removed from the list? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.
Tags: concessions, deals, how to deal, how to negotiate, how to persuade, negotiate, negotiating skills, negotiation, negotiation skills, promises, sales, sales negotiation, seller concessions, tit-for-tat
Posted in concession | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Concessions Are A Powerful Negotiation Tool - Learn To Use Them Correctly!
Sales negotiating is all about concessions. You make them, the other side makes them. Finally, if enough has been given, then you should be able to reach a common middle ground where a deal can be struck.
The trick is knowing how and when you should make your concessions. Here are some tips from the pros to make sure that you do it correctly:
- Plenty of Room: Make sure that you always give yourself plenty of room to negotiate. Simple things like starting with a high price or a lengthy delivery cycle will buy you the room to make concessions during the negotiations.
- Hide Your Cards: You always want to work to make the other side of the table open up and put all of his cards on the table long before you have to do the same. You should keep your motivations and goals hidden from view in order to maintain your negotiating power.
- Be Second: Never make a major concession first. Once again this is a power thing. Instead, make minor concessions until the cows come home.
- Make ‘Em Earn It: Never make a concession without making the other side earn it first. If they don’t earn it, then they won’t appreciate the concession when you give it to them.
- Wait: Make sure that you hold on to your concessions for as long as you can. Giving in later in the negotiation is always better than earlier – and the other side will appreciate it more (see #4).
- No Tit-For-Tat: it turns out that tit-for-tat or one-for-one concessions are not necessary. It’s ok if the other side gives more than you do.
- Gimme: Make sure that you get something for every concession that you make.
- Empty Boxes: Give concessions that really give nothing away from your point of view.
- Words: Getting the other side to say “I’ll consider it” is one form of a concession.
- Promises: Just like in #9, getting the other side to make a promise is yet another form of having them make a concession.
When you negotiate, which of these suggestions do you think is the most important? Did I leave anything off of my list? Should anything be removed from the list? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.
Tags: concessions, deals, how to deal, how to negotiate, how to persuade, negotiate, negotiating skills, negotiation, negotiation skills, promises, sales, sales negotiation, seller concessions, tit-for-tat
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Sales Negotiators Should Not Be Afraid Of Facts & Stats - They Are Just Here To Help!
So there you are, getting ready to fire up your side of a sales deal when all of a sudden you get hit with a volley of facts, averages, and statistics. You’re hit! Each one of those figures came with a sharp point that has embedded itself, perhaps fatally, into your arguments. Is there any way that you can survive?
Good news, the answer is yes. It turns out that these powerful negotiating weapons: facts, averages, and statistics are ALWAYS negotiable. We have trial lawyers to thank for showing us the way. The key here is not to argue with the numbers themselves, but rather dispute what lies behind the numbers.
Questions that a good salesperson will ask right off the bat after being attacked with numbers include:
- Who collected these numbers?
- What sources did they use to get the numbers?
- What techniques did they use to collect the numbers?
- Were there any assumptions used when collecting the numbers?
- Why were the numbers collected in the first place?
- What values were hidden behind the numbers?
- Were there any biases that might have influenced the collection?
A key point to always remember is that any facts, statistics, or averages are always based on things that have happened in the past. What you are in the process of trying to do is to negotiate a deal that will live in the future.
One final point is to not allow yourself to get too worried by statistics or averages. They are just ways of trying to be able to talk about large amounts of data. The most important thing to remember here is that by their very definition, statistics and averages really don’t apply to anyone including you.
Have you ever been trying to work a deal when the other side suddenly whipped out a bunch of numbers? What was your reaction? What did you do next? Did the numbers end up influencing how the deal came out? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.
Tags: averages, business contracts, deal, deals, fact, facts, how to deal, how to negotiate, money, negotiating skills, negotiating tips, negotiation, negotiation skills, negotiation tips, negotiator, salesman, salesperson, saleswomen, statistics, success
Posted in information gathering | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Sales Negotiators Need To Have A Defense Against The Good Cop / Bad Cop Tactic
I like movies. I especially like police movies. I’m guessing that one of the reasons that I like movies with police in them so much is because it’s almost a given that sometime during the movie the police heroes will resort to using the “Good Cop / Bad Cop” negotiating tactic. Every sales negotiator out there should be smiling right about now…
I guess I should take just a moment and make sure that we’re all on the same page here. The Good Cop / Bad Cop tactic is a decoy tactic and here’s how it works. The other side has at least two people. One takes a hard line and makes unreasonable demands on you. He / she also appears to be unyielding – you’ll get no concessions from them. The other person is much nicer. He / she is willing to be your friend, is a little embarrassed about his / her partner’s hard stand, and just wants to work with you to reach a deal.
Umm, the key thing to realize here is that you’re being presented with a show: both of these people are working together. They hoping to get as much out of you as possible. The goal is to get you to believe that you were lucky to get as much as you did considering just how tough the “bad cop” was.
So what’s a sales negotiator to do when you come up against a good cop / bad cop team? There are some simple ways to deal with the bad cop:
- Let the bad cop talk and talk. In many cases his / her own side of the table will end up getting fed up with them.
- Hit the big red button and complain to your / their higher authority.
- Leave! (This always gets their attention)
- Turn the tables and in public put the blame on the other side of the table for the failure to make more progress in the negotiations.
- Bring your own good cop / bad cop to the table.
Have you ever encountered a good cop / bad cop team when you’ve been negotiating a sale? How bad was the bad cop? How good was the good cop? How did you counter this tactic? Did the tactic work on you? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.
Tags: bad cop, bargaining, communication, concession, deals, good cop, how to deal, negotiating skills, negotiation, negotiation skills, negotiations, sales, tactic, tactics
Posted in negotiation tactics | No Comments »
