Posts Tagged ‘business’

Video: Negotiating With Vendors

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

So this time around, we’re going to do things just a bit differently. There’s a video that has been going around on YouTube that does a pretty classic job of capturing just how ridiculous negotiating between vendors and clients can be.

The video is just a bit over two minutes long, but in three different situations it does a great job of capturing the vocabulary that we hear over and over again when clients try to negotiate with vendors solely on price.

We’ve talked about it before, but this video is a great reminder that when you are getting ready to enter into a sales negotiaton, you need to have identified ALL of the different points (including price) that are up for negotiation.

Here’s the video, enjoy!

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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

In the quest to do a better job at negotiating deals, sales negotiators have been known to do some pretty wild things in order to condition themselves to perform at a high level – extreme exercising, exposure to hot / cold temperatures, and even eating some pretty weird things. However, is it possible that they’ve been overlooking the most important thing – how happy they are?

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Posted in vendor | 4 Comments »

Sales Negotiation Tips From Brian Dietmeyer

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Brian Dietmeyer Has Some Reminders About Good Sales Negotiation Skills

Brian Dietmeyer Has Some Reminders About Good Sales Negotiation Skills

The basics of sales negotiations are pretty straightforward; however, it can be easy to lose sight of them as we talk about tactics, preparation, and detailed sales negotiation skills. Maybe it’s time that we took a step back and got an expert to remind us about what we really need to be doing in our next sales negotiation?

Introducing Brian Dietmeyer

Brian Dietmeyer is the President / CEO of a company called Think! that offers business-to-business negotiation training. He’s also written a book called Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough Four-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation.

Awhile ago Brian sat down with the folks over at SellingPower magazine and went over the fundamental things that we all have to remember when we start a sales negotiation. He does a pretty good job of hitting most of the bases.

The video included below (sorry RSS readers, I think that you’re going to have to visit the blog to see the video) is only about 5 minutes long. Brian does a good job of pointing out three things:

  • How to reach an agreement with someone who is NOT an agreeable person.
  • The importance of facts and data in any sales negotiation.
  • The role of greed & fear in a sales negotiation.

Brian is, of course, trying to sell himself, his company, and his book but he only does this briefly about halfway through the video – it’s still a good video.

A 5-Minute Sales Negotiation Interview With Brian Dietmeyer

Questions For You

Do you agree with Brian – would having the right facts & data allow you to reach an agreement with a difficult customer? Do you think people’s fear of sales negotiations comes from the fact that they are afraid that they don’t have the right data? Do you think the 3 offer technique would work for you? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

Click here to get automatic updates when The Accidental Negotiator Blog is updated.

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

So this time around, we’re going to do things just a bit differently. There’s a video that has been going around on YouTube that does a pretty classic job of capturing just how ridiculous negotiating between vendors and clients can be.

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Posted in negotiation skills | No Comments »

Weird Negotiating: The Buy Now – Negotiate Later Tactic

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Buy Now - Negotiate Later Is A Dangerous Tactic That Should Be Used Carefully

Buy Now - Negotiate Later Is A Dangerous Tactic That Should Be Used Carefully

I’ve always thought that this tactic was just a little bit crazy, but I have come to think that it goes on a lot more than any of us may believe. To set the stage properly, you’ve got to be able to imagine a buyer who is desperate. For whatever reason, a project has got to be started NOW. Ultimately the project has a number of items that are going to have to be negotiated, but its got to start NOW.

Using the buy now – negotiate later tactic, the buyer asks the seller to start the project now on a prearranged contractual basis. The buyer will then provide some limited funds in order get things started and both the buyer and the seller agree to work out the details in the future.

Does this sound dangerous to you? This is not the way that I like to work – things can get messy really quickly. The key reason for the way that I feel is that it can be incredibly hard for a buyer to change vendors once the project is started. We all tend to make both financial as well as mental commitments that are hard to change after we’ve reached an initial agreement with the seller. What was once a temporary agreement, has somehow become permanent and the buyer is locked in to it.

With all of this having been said, buy now – negotiate later can still be the way for a buyer to go in certain special circumstances. Some of these are:

  • Blobs: Sometimes the amount of work that has to be done truly can’t be estimated until some initial work has been done.
  • Out Of Time: Although we’d all like to have plenty of time to sit down and complete a negotiation, sometimes there is no time for negotiation – work needs to begin right NOW!
  • Phantom Costs: Sometimes there has been an initial discussion of prices between both parties. This has left the buyer feeling as though the seller is trying to collect for expenses that will probably never occur.
  • Pilot Time: If the buyer has never dealt with the seller before or if the job requires unique specialized skills, then the buyer may want to try-it-before-he-buys-it. This will provide the buyer with a way to find out if the seller truly knows his stuff.
  • Seller’s Advantage: The seller may be willing to enter into this type of deal if he/she realizes that his bargaining power is going to be less later on. There are several different reasons why this can happen, the most common is that resources have been committed and this means that he/she will lose this contract opportunity.
  • Good Record: The buyer may be willing to enter into this type of agreement if his research shows that the seller has a good track record and past customers report that he probably won’t rip the buyer off.
  • Not To Exceed: The buyer can consider entering into this type of deal if the seller is willing to commit to a not-to-exceed price at the outset.

I’m still wary of these types of deals. Even sellers need to be careful. A seller’s power in a negotiation is the greatest during negotiations BEFORE work has started. Once services start to be delivered, then all bets are off.

Have you ever been part of a buy now – pay later deal? Why was this type of deal proposed? Who proposed it: the buyer or the seller? How did it turn out – was everyone happy in the end? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Posted in tactic | No Comments »

How To Hire A Negotiator

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
Sometimes It Is Desirable To Bring In A Negotiator From The Outside

Sometimes It Is Desirable To Bring In A Negotiator From The Outside

In life, there are some situations that you will be called on to negotiate in order to get what you want / need.  However, there will also be situations in which you have the time (and the budget!) to reach out and get outside help.

Getting outside negotiating help can be especially critical if the type of negotiation that you are preparing to start is of a very technical or detailed nature. If you can find someone who has “been there, done that” you can significantly improve the odds of being successful in the negotiations. Now the big question is just how does one go about hiring a negotiator?

The challenge in interviewing someone to do negotiating on your behalf is that negotiation is a very difficult job to do. The reason that negotiating is such a challenge is because it doesn’t just require one or two specific skills, but rather a whole collection of skills that we really don’t find in business.

At a very high level, a good negotiator has the ability to show good business sense while at the same time displaying a deep understanding of how people think and act. It is a rare thing indeed to find both of these qualities in a single individual. Couple that with any special knowledge or experience that you are looking for and choosing the wrong negotiator to represent you can appear to be all too easy.

The following 10 characteristics of a good negotiator are what you should be looking for when you are interviewing possible candidates. It’s going to take some probing on your part to uncover these traits, but it will be worth the effort:

  1. Must have the ability to negotiate well with members of YOUR team. If the candidate can’t win the confidence of your team, how can you expect him to succeed in the negotiation with the other side?
  2. Must show that he/she has the ability to construct a plan and the commitment to follow it through. The ability to realize that not all information may be available before the negotiation starts and the willingness to check facts and alter plans as new details emerge are also critical.
  3. Did I mention the need for sound business sense? The ability to see through the fog of negotiations and identify the issues that will have an impact on your bottom line is key.
  4. The ability to deal with both ambiguity (both before and during the negotiations) as well as conflict during the actual negotiations.
  5. The willingness to aim high when setting goals for the negotiations.
  6. The ability to realize that a negotiation is a process and the patience to wait for the other side to reveal more so that the process can move forward.
  7. The ability to personally connect with both your team and the other side. Yes, negotiation is a business process, but the personal touch can make all the difference when it comes to closing the deal.
  8. A realization that his / her personal integrity is what matters above all else.
  9. The ability to, no matter how heated a discussion gets, listen with an open mind to what the other side is saying.
  10. The self-confidence that is needed to see a negotiation through from start to finish.

What else do you think should be added to my list? Is there anything on the list that you think could be dropped? Which one of these 10 items is the most important in your opinion? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Posted in negotiation skills | 2 Comments »