"You've got to drop your price by 10% or we will have no choice but
to go with your competition."
"You will have to make an exception to your policy if you want our
business."
"I know that you have good quality and service, but so do your
competitors. What we need to focus on here is your pricing."
"I agree that those special services you keep bringing up would be
nice, but we simply don't have the funds to purchase them. Could you
include them at no additional cost?"
Every time you hear statements like these, you're in the middle of a
difficult sales negotiation. How you handle that negotiation will
determine whether or not you close the sale and how profitable that sale
will be. In order to give you a real edge every time, I have listed below
some key points taken from my sales negotiation training program.
Don't Believe Everything You See and Hear Part of a good salesperson's skill is to learn to read people and
situations very quickly. However, when it gets down to negotiating, you
have to take everything you see and hear with a grain of salt. Buyers are
good negotiators, and thus they are good actors. You may be the only
person who has what she needs, but everything she does and says, from body
language to the words she uses, will be designed to lead you to believe
that unless she gets an extra 10% off, she's going with the competition.
Be skeptical. Be suspicious. Test, probe, and see what happens.
Don't Offer Your Bottom Line Early in the Negotiation How many times have you been asked to "give me your best price"? Have
you ever given your best price only to discover that the buyer still
wanted more? You have to play the game. It's expected. If you could drop
your price by 10%, start out with 0%, or 2%, or 4%. Leave yourself room to
negotiate some more. Who knows - you may get it for a 2% reduction. You
might have to go all the way to 10%, but often you won't. A little
stubbornness pays big dividends.
Get Something in Return for Your Added Value What if you discover that the buyer wants to be able to track his
expenditures for your products or services in a way that is far more
detailed and complex than is standard for your industry? What if your
account tracking system is set up in a way that you can provide that
information at essentially no cost to you? Often the salesperson's
overwhelming temptation is to jump in and say, "Oh, we can do that. That's
no problem." Before you do, however, think about your options. You could
throw it in as part of the package and try to build good will. Or you
could take a deep breath and try something like, "That's a difficult
problem that will require some effort on our part, but it's doable." In
the second case, without committing, you've told the buyer it is possible.
You may not be able to get him to pay extra for it but you may be able to
use it as a bargaining chip in resisting price concessions. Which way you
choose to go will depend on who your customer is and on the situation.
However, you do have options.
Sell and Negotiate Simultaneously Think of selling and negotiating as two sides of the same coin.
Sometimes one side is face up, and sometimes the other side, but they are
always both there. This is particularly true in your earliest contacts
with the buyer. The face the buyer sees is that of a salesperson
demonstrating features and benefits. The hidden face is that of a
negotiator probing and seeking out information that may be invaluable
later should issues like price, terms, quality, delivery, etc. have to be
negotiated.
Be Patient Finally, and most important, be patient. Sales is a high energy, fast
moving business. Patience is one commodity that is in relatively short
supply, but if you're impatient in a negotiation, you'll lose your shirt.
If I'm negotiating with you and I know that you're impatient, I will hold
out just a little longer, no matter how desperate I am to make a deal with
you. As long as I know you're in a hurry, I'll wait. So be patient. Take
the time that you need, don't rush to give in, don't show your anxiety,
stay cool and don't panic. Negotiation is a process and a game. Use the
process and play the game. You'll be astonished at the difference that it
makes!
(c) Michael Schatzki - 2004. All rights reserved
Michael Schatzki is a master negotiator who, for over
20 years, has provided sales negotiation training and coaching for
thousands of people in the U.S. and globally. Visit his web site at
http://www.NegotiationDynamics.com. Mike can be reached at (888)
766-3530.
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