Posts Tagged ‘negotiation skills’

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Giving To Get: How A Sales Negotiator Makes Concessions

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Concessions Are A Powerful Negotiation Tool - Learn To Use Them Correctly!

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Be Second: Never make a major concession first. Once again this is a power thing. Instead, make minor concessions until the cows come home.
  4. 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.
  5. 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).
  6. 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.
  7. Gimme: Make sure that you get something for every concession that you make.
  8. Empty Boxes: Give concessions that really give nothing away from your point of view.
  9. Words: Getting the other side to say “I’ll consider it” is one form of a concession.
  10. 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.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

A Sales Negotiator’s Friend: “Just The Facts, M’am”

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Sales Negotiators Should Not Be Afraid Of Facts & Stats - They Are Just Here To Help!

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:

  1. Who collected these numbers?
  2. What sources did they use to get the numbers?
  3. What techniques did they use to collect the numbers?
  4. Were there any assumptions used when collecting the numbers?
  5. Why were the numbers collected in the first place?
  6. What values were hidden behind the numbers?
  7. 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.

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Posted in information gathering | 4 Comments »

How Sales Negotiators Can Defend Against The Good Cop / Bad Cop Tactic

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Sales Negotiators Need To Have A Defense Against The Good Cop / Bad Cop Tactic

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Hit the big red button and complain to your / their higher authority.
  3. Leave! (This always gets their attention)
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

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Sales Negotiators Should Always Have Limited Authority – Or Else!

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Sales Negotiators Who Have Authority Limits Can Use This To Their Advantage

Sales Negotiators Who Have Authority Limits Can Use This To Their Advantage

Do you run the world yet? I’m going to guess that the answer is no (if it isn’t, then we need to talk). When we talk about being successful in a sales negotiation, we often spend a lot of time trying to figure out how we can get more negotiating power on our side. However, sometimes NOT having negotiating power can work to our benefit…

If you are in charge, then the other side can always pressure you to make a decision because they know that you are the ultimate decision making authority. However, if you don’t have the ability to make the final decision, if you instead have limited authority, then there can be a number of benefits:

  1. Gives you the ability to say no gracefully if needed.
  2. Gives you room to back off and assess your position.
  3. Give you the ability to go check with experts.
  4. Give you the right to review the evidence.
  5. Give you the ability to take the time to look for mistakes.
  6. Gives you the time that you need to read the fine print.
  7. Gives you the ability to bring up undefined questions.
  8. Gives you the ability to write a better argument.
  9. Gives you the right to coordinate the decision.
  10. Gives you the ability to move the negotiation away from an unacceptable position.

As you can see from this list, what some would see as disadvantages during a negotiation can also be seen as advantages. Keep in mind that it’s really how you make use of something that determines if it is an advantage or a disadvantage.

The negotiation experts are often split when it comes to what types of limits on authority are more valuable than others. However, Dr. Karrass believes that  the best kind of limits on your authority are statutory or administrative limits. The other side will quickly understand that you are faced with these types of limits and in fact may enter the negations with the expectations that you have these limits.

Next in line comes dollar limits (managers can sign off on so much, Directors so much more, and VPs even more). The other side may be least receptive to hearing that you are dealing with people limits because these often seem to be things that you should be able to work through.

One thing that you are going to have to keep in mind is just how willing the other side is going to be to deal with you despite the limits on your authority. You may find that corporate policy limits are the ones that cause the most problems during a negotiation because they can be the most difficult limits to either change or circumvent.

There are a great number of different types of authority limits that you may be faced with during any given negotiation. The specific details of the negotiation will define the limits that are placed on you. No matter what limits are present, they can generally be placed in one or more common “buckets”:

  • Money limits
  • Term limits
  • Policy limits
  • Legal limits
  • Design limits
  • Group approval limits

In the end, when you find yourself in a negotiation with a number of limits placed on you, take a moment to understand how you can use these limits to boost your negotiating power.

Have you entered a sales negotiation with limits on your authority? Did you see this as a disadvantage or as an advantage? How did that negotiation turn out? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Posted in power | 2 Comments »

6 Ways To Break A Negotiation Deadlock (Plus One More)

Thursday, November 13th, 2008
When Negotiations Hit A Deadlock, Special Techniques Are Needed To Move Forward

When Negotiations Hit A Deadlock, Special Techniques Are Needed To Move Forward

So how many times has this happened to you: there you are happily negotiating along and then all of a sudden *bang* you run into an immovable deadlock. Some issue or some condition that neither you nor the other side of the table seem to be able to see eye-to-eye on just brings everything to a screeching halt. Hmm, what’s a negotiator to do? All too often negotiators bump heads for awhile trying to convince the other side to change their minds and then give up when this turns out to not be possible. There has got to be a better way of handling this! It turns out that there is…

Here are six (plus one) techniques that the folks over at the Karrass institute recommend for dealing with the deadlocks that occur in negotiations:

  1. Change The Setting: The negotiations up to this point have taking place at a specific location. If you now change the setting, then all of a sudden both sides will feel like they are starting a new round of negotiations. This means that all of the old assumptions about what would or would not work are (almost) thrown out the window. This fresh perspective might be just what both sides need to go back and revisit the issue that is causing the deadlock.
  2. Change The Negotiator(s): We are all so vain that we almost never consider this possibility, but it can be a powerful option. Sometimes we run into a deadlock because one or more of the negotiators who is involved in the discussions just can’t find a different way to look at the situation. This is often the case if the negotiations have gone on for a long time. If you switch out the negotiator, then you may find that the negotiations have taken a step back as the new negotiator works to establish a relationship with the other side of the table, but this might be just what is needed to move the discussions forward.
  3. Change Levels In The Organization: Often times a deadlock is a result of the negotiating parties not having the authority needed to be able to suggest an alternative. If this is the case, then a good way to deal with the problem is to kick it up to higher powers. They may be able to quickly find areas in which they can bend and that could get the whole discussion back on track quickly.
  4. Provide Additional Information: Each side of the table must have a reason for not being willing to budge on the deadlock issue. This reason is based on the information that they currently have. Sometimes bringing the information that you have based your position on and laying it out on the table before both parties can result in a change. The other side might point out that one of your assumptions is incorrect or they may be surprised to learn a fact that they didn’t know about. Either way, this might be just what is needed to get things moving again.
  5. Go “Off The Record”: Depending on the level of rapport that you have been able to build with the other side, this could be just what is needed. When you go off the record, you indicate to the other side that you are going to have a discussion with them about negotiating strategy that once completed will not be mentioned again. This is designed to show how much you trust the other side and to see if perhaps both sides of the table are trying to reach the same end point and are just getting tripped up by a minor issue. Careful with this one, you might be tipping your hand too much or too early in the negotiations.
  6. Say “Let’s Shift Into The Both Win Mode”: Although this doesn’t really mean anything by itself, it’s a great way to communicate to the other side that you would like to find a way to create a solution that works for both sides. Just by indicating that this is what you are working towards can often be the spark that causes the other side to start to consider more possible ways around your deadlock….and I promised you one more way to break a negotiation deadlock and so here it is:
  7. Take A Break: it sounds so simple that often we overlook it, but taking a break and stepping away from the table can often be the most powerful way to break a negotiation deadlock. We all have a tendency to get caught up in a negotiation when we are in the thick of it and our ability to think of creative ways to resolve deadlocks can decrease the longer that we’ve been negotiating. Taking a break might be just what the doctor ordered to get our creative juices flowing again.

Have you ever run into a deadlock while negotiating? How did you first try to resolve it? Did this work? How was the deadlock eventually resolved (or was it)? Leave a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Posted in deadlock | 4 Comments »

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