How do you feel about negotiating? If you really don’t like to do it, then I’ve got a great option for you: just go ahead and buy something and then worry about doing the negotiating later on. Wait you say, is this even possible. The answer is yes, but you might want to think twice before you do it…
The Idea Behind Negotiating Later On
The very idea of agreeing to make a purchase and then putting the negotiating off until later on seems crazy, doesn’t it? Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you; however, not all circumstances that we find ourselves in are what we’d call “normal”…
An obvious case in point would be a situation in which you have very limited time to find a solution to a problem. If your car breaks down on the highway, then the first tow truck that comes along is the one that you’ll be willing to purchase towing services from with basically no negotiation. After you’ve been towed to a gas station, that’s when the real negotiating will probably start.
The disadvantage of handling deal making this way can be significant. Once you’ve told the other side of the table that you’re going to buy from them, you’re basically locked in. This means that a great deal of the power in the eventual negotiations has transferred from you to the other side.
Additionally, the other side is in the driver’s seat when it comes to setting a final price for the item that you’ve purchased. Under the wrong circumstances, you may end up paying a much higher price than the thing that you bought was worth.
Why Putting Off Negotiating Might Be A Good Idea — Sometimes
So clearly there are some risks to deferring the process of negotiating a deal. However, at the same time there are a number of reasons that you might want to consider this approach to resolving an issue.
Many tasks that we are looking to have others complete for us are complex. The ability to fully evaluate the other side of the table’s ability to do the work can be prohibitive. Simply awarding them the job and then evaluating their work once they’re done can be a clever way of determining their skill level.
Using the other side of the table’s known history of deal making can provide you with the confidence to move faster. If you need to have the work done and you believe that you can trust the other side to strike a fair deal, then buying before you negotiate can provide you with the advantage of speed.
Not all jobs can be fully estimated before the work is started. For this type of work, you’re going to have to select your partner and have the work commence before you can determine just exactly how large the deal is. Situations like this are perfect for using a “not to exceed” clause in order to make sure that you are not taken advantage of.
What All Of This Means For You
It turns out that it is possible to turn the standard negotiating model on its head and buy something first, and then agree to negotiate later on. This is a unique way of going about getting what you want right now!
Setting up a deal this way comes with a series of risks. The most important of these risks is that you are now locked into using a single vendor – they’ve got you. However, this approach can be used when you simply don’t have any time to go through the negotiating process.
The most important thing is to know is who you are dealing with. When you know the other side of the table, then you are able to make a judgment call about whether the risk is worth the reward. Under the right circumstances, this can be the right way to quickly solve a problem.
- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™
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Question For You: Can you think of any conditions that you could include in a deal where you bought now and negotiated later on?
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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
When we talk about what it takes to be successful in your next sales negotiation, we often talk about how much authority you can bring to your side of the table. Your basic goal needs to be to show up to the negotiation with as much authority as you can bring – you are “the man” as they say. You can make decisions, cut deals, and even make concessions. You can do whatever it takes to make a deal happen. It turns out that we may have gotten this all wrong – maybe what we should be doing is showing up with no authority…
