Posts Tagged ‘Persistence’

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Sales Negotiators Know That It’s Ok To Not Understand Things

Friday, July 29th, 2011
Image Credit It's Ok To Get Lost During A Sales Negotiation

It's Ok To Get Lost During A Sales Negotiation

One of the great myths of sales negotiating is that you always have to know everything about everything. It turns out that even the great negotiators can’t do this. There are a whole bunch of reasons why, but the important fact is that it’s not possible to always be on top of everything. It’s what you do when you find yourself in this situation that will distinguish you from other negotiators.

Why You Are Not Perfect

You aren’t perfect – so get over it. Even in the best of circumstances a negotiation is a fast-paced affair. During a negotiation we are trying to impress the other people on our team with how good of a negotiator we are. At the same time, we’d like to be able to impress the other side with how sharp and on the ball we are. The problem is that we fall off of that ball quite often.

Specifically what happens is that we get hit with a tidal wave of information as a negotiation progresses. The other side starts to throw facts, statistics, requirements, and demands at us very quickly. Trying to keep track of all that is being discussed can overwhelm even the sharpest negotiator.

Keep in mind that you are also under a great deal of pressure when you are part of a negotiation. There is generally a great deal riding on your ability to reach a deal that will allow your company to achieve great things. This pressure combined with lots of confusing information being thrown at you serves to leave you feeling lost and confused.

What You Need To Do When You Get Lost During A Negotiation

Becoming lost at some point during a sales negotiation is actually a fairly common occurrence – it happens to all of us at some time. When it happens to you, you’ll need to remember the most important rule: don’t panic!

Instead, realize what is happening – too much information, too much pressure, too little time to process it all. The first thing that you need to do is to apply the brakes to the negotiation. If you let it keep going on while you aren’t following along, then you’ll just end up getting more and more lost.

You need to speak up. Tell the other side that you don’t understand what’s been said and that you’d like them to back up and review where things currently stand. No, they aren’t going to be terribly happy about this, but they’d do it – they don’t have any other choice.

Many times what you’ll discover when you do this is that the other side is not really sure where things stand either. They won’t be able to back up because they can’t remember all that they’ve said. When this is discovered, you’ll have a chance to reset the negotiations. You get to pick where things stand and the negotiations can start from there. You’ll be in charge and you won’t be lost anymore…!

What All Of This Means For You

I’ve got good news for you: you don’t have to be perfect in order to be a very effective sales negotiator. What this means is that you can become lost during a sales negotiation and still end up with a good deal.

The reasons that we can get lost during a negotiation are many and varied. The most common one is that the other side wanted us to become lost and they buried us under a mountain of information that we just haven’t been able to process. That’s why it’s always ok for us to say that we’re confused and have the other side repeat themselves.

The burden of making sure that we understand what is being discussed really falls on the other side of the table. The only way that we can make a mistake is if we don’t speak up when we find that we are lost. Have the courage to speak your mind and ask for clarification and you’ll find your way home and be able to reach deals that you’ll be proud of.

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: Do you think that you should call for a timeout when you first discover that you have become lost during a sales negotiation?

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The Most Important Word In Negotiating Begins With A “P”

Friday, April 1st, 2011
Image Credit
Negotiators Need To Remember Who Won The Race

Negotiators Need To Remember Who Won The Race

All too often when we see negotiators in the movies, they are portrayed as slick, fast talking folks who always seem to effortlessly get their way. The first thing that we need to realize that this is the movies and so it in no way represents real life. The second thing that we need to realize is that when we see negotiators portrayed this way, we’re being taught the wrong lesson. For you see, in negotiations, speed kills…

The Most Important Word In Negotiating

The art of negotiating is truly that – an art. Sure there are a lot of skills and tactics that help one get what they want to get out of a negotiation that much quicker; however, in the end, reaching a deal with the other side takes creativity.

In this day and age of immediate gratification, the single most important word that a negotiator needs to remember is the one that it is the hardest to hear – patience. Just as the Grand Canyon was not created overnight, so to are the best negotiations not completed quickly.

If you want to have any hope of ever being a successful negotiator, then you are going to have to learn to be patient – more patient than you are today. Patience is the one thing that allows both sides of the table to work through those things that are preventing a deal from happening. It’s also how the time is found to search for more creative solution to impasses, the ones that we all like to call “win-win” solutions.

If you can slow down your natural desire to rush through a negotiation, you’ll be able to take the time to fully understand what the other side of the table is trying to accomplish. Patience is something that will also give you time to adjust to the offer that the other side of the table is making to you. What seemed unacceptable awhile ago, upon further reflection may become something that you can live with.

Why Patience Works So Well

Nobody wants to hear that having patience is the key to being a successful negotiator. We are all looking for that secret “black belt” negotiating tactic that will cause the other side of the table to roll over and give us anything that we ask them for. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

Instead, you have this powerful, but difficult to use strategy called patience. Patience works for you in the end not because of any magical qualities that it has, but rather because of what it allows to happen when you use it.

When you have the strength to be patient, you’ll allow the other side of the table’s expectations for what they’re going to get out of the negotiation to change. We all enter a negotiation thinking that we’re going to get everything that we want. If you can be patient, then the other side will start to understand that they’re not going to get everything that they want, but (if you’ll excuse the Rolling Stones song reference) they are going to get everything that they need.

Every negotiation is a stressful situation. Not only are the different sides exerting stress on each other, but they are also struggling with stress internally. If you have the ability to remain patient and wait them out, those internal stresses will continue to grow. If you are willing to wait long enough, those forces will cause enough stress and confusion for the other side that they’ll be more willing to reach a deal with you just to end the negotiations.

Finally, as much as you hate to be patient, the other side will hate to have you being so patient. When you are patient, things move more slowly and nobody can stand that – can’t we just get this thing done? As a direct result of your patience, the other side will start to do things in order to hurry the process up. More often than not this includes making some concessions just to get things to hurry along. Not a bad payoff for just being patient!

What All Of This Means For You

Far more important than any clever negotiating tactic, the ability to be patient is the one skill that will always serve a negotiator well. By taking the time to allow a negotiating session to unfold, a negotiator will allow more facts and realities to be revealed and by doing so it will become that much easier to eventually reach a deal with the other side.

Patience is such a powerful tool because of what it does to the other side of the table. It has the ability to transform them from an unstoppable force into a mild mannered partner.

It’s not easy to be patient during a negotiation, especially when the stakes are high. However, negotiators who can learn to be patient will find that they are the ones who are able to strike better deals quicker.

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: Do you think that there are situations in which you need to become impatient in order to strike a deal with the other side of the table?

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

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

Just how long do you think that your next sales negotiation is going to last? I’ve got news for you – it may not last as long as you may think that it’s going to last. The reason is that either side of the table may use deadlines to help hurry things along. If this happens, will you recognize that it’s happening and, more importantly, will you know what to do when it happens to you?

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Why Sales Negotiators Need To Watch Out For The Give & Take

Friday, January 21st, 2011
Image Credit Just When You Think You're Ahead, You May Find Yourself Losing!

Just When You Think You're Ahead, You May Find Yourself Losing!

You may or may not realize it, but the other side of the table in a sales negotiation might be as smart or even smarter than you are. I say this not to make you worried, but rather to make sure that you remain aware throughout the entire negotiation. A good example of this is the old “give and take” technique – just when you think that you are ahead, you may find yourself way behind all of a sudden …

The Give And Take Technique

The give and take technique of negotiating is very simple on the surface. In fact, when it’s being used, the side of the table that is using it will come across as being very agreeable and easy to work with.

It all starts with the negotiator that is using the give and take technique making a series of concessions to the other side. What may have seemed like significant issues that needed to be worked out before the negotiations started, quickly get resolved and often get resolved in favor of one side of the table.

As you may have guessed, this is all part of the tactic. In a sales negotiation things are never as straightforward as they may seem.

Why This Technique Works So Well

As things start to go better than expected for one side of the negotiation, a very natural thing will start to happen – they’ll let their guard down. When the give and take technique is being used, breaks or pauses in the negotiations are very important to the side that is using this technique.

The reason that these breaks are so important is because of what the side that is making the unexpected progress will do during those breaks – they will tell the world about how well things are going. This could be as simple as placing a call to their management.

What has happened contains the key to why this technique works so well. The other side of the table has now become psychologically conditioned to close the deal. Since they’ve told the world that things are going well, they have clearly communicated that a deal is going to be reached. Now they are committed.

This is when the negotiator that is using the give and take technique can strike. You can start to take back everything that you’ve already given. You can do this by demanding concessions from the other side that effectively weaken or even negate the concessions that you’ve already made.

An example of this would be if you had agreed to sell a piece of property to the other side of the table. Let’s say that you’ve made a big concession on the price already. In this second part of the negotiation, after the other side has already committed to making a deal, you start to turn the tables on them. You can demand that they pay for the survey of the property. You can make them pay this year’s taxes on the property. You can have them pay to move you off of this property and onto another piece of property. You can see how you can very quickly make back all of the money that you gave away up front.

What All Of This Means For You

The give and take technique is a clever way to make the other side of the table give you exactly what you want. It starts out simply enough with you giving in to the other side’s requests.

It’s important to take breaks in order to allow the other side to communicate to the outside world that they are making progress in the negotiations. Once that’s been done, the give and take negotiator can strike. Because the other side is now committed to making a deal, you can take back your concessions and get even more out of them.

It takes a great deal of planning in order to use the give and take technique. However, it is very powerful because it works over time – it’s never clear just exactly what you are up to until the negotiations are almost over. They say that it’s better to give than it is to receive, but in sales negotiations it’s actually better to give and take!

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: What do you think is the best way to defend yourself against the give & take technique?

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

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

When we’re talking about negotiating and someone brings up the tactic of escalation what pops into your head right off the bat? Do you see yourself becoming frustrated with the person that you’re negotiating with and getting up and storming off to go have a talk with their boss? That’s one form of escalation, but that’s not what we’re going to talk about here – we’re going to talk about the other type of escalation…

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Why Sales Negotiators Like Salami

Friday, January 7th, 2011
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Doesn't Everyone Like Salami?

Doesn't Everyone Like Salami?

Who doesn’t like packaged luncheon meat? Well, ok, maybe a lot of people don’t, but at least when I say the word “salami” everyone gets a mental image of what I’m talking about: one of those sausage looking things that you buy at the store and then proceed to slice off pieces as you make things like sandwiches. Why is this so important that every sales negotiator should have one of them on their desk at all times?

How To Eat A Salami

Careful – if you take my advice and purchase a salami and place it on your desk, very quickly you are going to discover that this thing needs to be kept refrigerated. Don’t do it!

Instead, let’s think about how you’d use a salami if you bought it from the store. I guess that it’s always possible that you could use the whole thing all at once. Outside of being once very solid meal that would probably stay with you for the better part of a month, it would be almost impossible for a normal human being to eat an entire salami in one setting.

So how do we normally do this? In pieces. We’ll buy the thing and stick it in the fridge. The next time we’re fixing lunch, we’ll cut a slice off. If we happen to be wandering through the kitchen and realize that we’re hungry, we’ll cut a slice off. If we’re fixing a salad for dinner and we’re looking for one more topping, we’ll cut a slice off. Before you know it, the salami is gone.

How To Negotiate Using A Salami

Why all this talk about deli meat? Simple, it turns out that the more that you know about how you go about eating a salami, the better a sales negotiator you’ll become.

The reason is that one of the oldest negotiating tactics in the book is called the “salami tactic”. Perhaps I should explain.

During a sales negotiation, you’d really like the other side to just give in to all of your demands at the start of the negotiation. However, this happening is as unlikely as you sitting down and eating a whole salami in a single setting.

Much more likely is the other side giving in to your requests one by one over time. Small concessions by the other side go almost unnoticed over time – almost like when you were snacking on that salami that was sitting in your fridge.

Smart sales negotiators understand how the salami is going to be eaten and they prepare for it. They don’t plan on getting everything that they want right off the bat. Instead, they prepare their arguments and tactics so that they can go after the salami that they want, piece by piece.

If a discussion about one issue isn’t going well, a sales negotiator will switch to another topic. If he or she is able to get that piece of the salami, then they may come back to the issue that couldn’t be resolved and say “look, we worked out that other issue, how about if we just resolve this one”. By doing this, they may very well get their hands on yet another piece of the salami.

Eventually, by the time that the negotiation is over, the negotiator will have ended up with a majority of the salami that they had originally set their eyes on. What may have seemed impossible at the start of the negotiations, turned out to be quite possible!

What All Of This Means For You

Although it might strike you as a bit odd to use a luncheon meat as an example of how best to conduct a sales negotiation, the salami is an important tool. Understanding how we eat one of these can show us the way to negotiating success.

Realizing that we can’t get all that we want right off the bat is important. The salami tactic shows us that if we can get pieces of what we want then over time we can end up getting most of what we were looking for.

A sales negotiator needs to have many tactics in their bag of tricks. The salami tactic is a classic that everyone needs to know how to use. Sorta makes you hungry, eh?

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: Do you think that it’s possible to break what you are negotiating for up into too many pieces?

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

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

In order to be a successful sales negotiator you need to be able to walk away with the lowest prices when you engage in a negotiation. As you might suspect, the key is how you get there. Having multiple tactics that you can use is your ticket to success. The Krunch tactic is a classic tool that every sales negotiator needs to know how to use — and how to defend against.

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2 “Never Fail” Secrets To Getting Your Way In A Sales Negotiation

Friday, May 21st, 2010
Image Credit Sometimes The Shortest Words Are The Most Powerful

Sometimes The Shortest Words Are The Most Powerful

Hey, did you read any of those Harry Potter books (or at least see one of the movies?) If you did, then you probably got drawn into the world of magic and wizards that the books are all about. It sure seems as though in these stories that there is a magic portion or a curse to do just about anything. The stories are fiction but it turns out that sales negotiators do have some real magic that they can use to get what they want during a negotiation…

The Power Of The Word “No”

For some odd reason in Western cultures there seems to be a social stigma associated with saying the word “no” to someone – even when we’re in the middle of a sales negotiation. If you want to be successful, you’re going to have to learn to get over this hang up.

I’m not talking about just saying “no” and then turning your back to the other side of the table. Instead, I’m going to suggest a two-part “no” strategy. The first part, naturally, consists of you saying “no”. The second part is where you take the time to explain to the other side of the table WHY you said no. The goal here is to explain your reasoning in a clear and logical fashion.

One of the reasons that so many of us really dislike saying (or sticking with ) a “no” is because we think that it’s going to make the other side of the table feel bad. What’s interesting about this is that more often than not, we’re wrong about this.

Getting a “no” from us might be exactly what the other side of the table wants. It closes the door on this part of the negotiation and so they can move on to the next part. If asked by their bosses, they can at least say that they asked and we said “no”.

In the world of negotiating, just about everyone agrees that the Japanese are the best at saying “no” . They have a way of saying it in such a way that you don’t feel bad when you hear it: “yes, but …” or “no, maybe…”.

Give Them An Opportunity To Vent

Just how do you think your response of a “no” is going to make the other side of the table feel? Sad? Angry? You bet! When they are feeling this way they are going to want to vent, let off some steam. If you are wise, you’ll go ahead and let them do this.

The reasoning behind this strategy is subtle, but complex. By allowing the other side to go on a rant, you are deliberately not restricting their actions. If you tried to do this they just might go postal and storm out of the negotiations. By allowing them to do some yelling, you are providing them with a safe way to work through their frustrations.

Another point that you should keep in mind is that when the other side is venting, they may actually be showing off for the rest of their team. Remember that when the sales negotiations are done, they are going to have to report to their bosses who will ask if they did everything that they could in order to get the best deal possible. Reports of their tirade may serve to convince their internal audience that they did a good job.

What All Of This Means For You

Forget the magic that Harry Potter is able to call upon, today’s sales negotiators need to find some practical magic. The good news is that there seems to be plenty of it around for us to use.

The simple word “no” can be the one word that allows you to get what you want during your next sales negotiation. You just need to find the courage to say it and stick with it. Once you’ve said it, you’ll need to give the other side of the table a chance to work out their frustration.

If you can do both of these things, then you’ll be that much closer to striking a good deal during your next negotiation. Who can say “no” to that?

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Help For Technical Staff

Question For You: Once you’ve said “no” to something, do you think that you can ever change you mind and say “yes” to it without losing face?

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

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

In the world of negotiating, the actual process of negotiating is very much an art. In order to be good at it, a master sales negotiator needs to have a complete collection of negotiating tactics at his or her disposal…

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