Wins All Round: True
Negotiation
By Brett Lyons
When you…
·
Communicate to achieve a specific objective
·
Engage in behaviour to affect the decisions other people make
·
Influence the attitude and views of others
…… you are negotiating!
Negotiation is used
to reach a mutual agreement between two parties. It’s the art of getting what
you want. From human rights defenders negotiating hostage releases, to couples
debating who’s doing the washing up, everyone needs to know how to do it.
However, successful sales people must have it honed to perfection.
The process of sales negotiation starts
at the end of the sales process. However, too many sales people still don’t
understand this. There have been countless times where I’ve witnessed sales
people throwing numbers out within the first three minutes of conversation,
before any interest or needs had been established in their product.
This crude sales
behaviour devalues the product being sold and places the customer in an
uncomfortable position. If a sales person has not taken the time to question
the client, actively listen to their needs and establish whether the solution
is the best one for the customer, they could potentially (and do) lose the
whole sale.
Good things come to
those who wait
So as we’ve learned,
timing is imperative. At the end of the sales cycle, 80% of the work has
been completed, and 20% of agreement has been reached. The
negotiation phase relies on the rest of the sales process for success. The
first 80% has been set up by:
·
establishing the value of the product
·
effectively dealing with any customer objections
·
a mutual understanding that you have found a solution for them
Negotiation comes in
only after the customer believes in, and has decided to buy, the product or
service. It appears at the end to structure the price, terms and
conditions of a business deal. Don’t feel the need to rush through the
negotiations stage just to seal the deal: by this point the customer is
persuaded of the product’s value, and you are in a position to win the terms
and conditions you want.
Prior to this stage,
information-gathering over the course of the sales process is imperative. If
you know exactly what the customer’s need is, then you will be able to meet (or
exceed) it with the best solution.
Once you know what
the client seeks, you can establish that you have the solution, but need to
agree on the fees, terms and conditions.
Everything is
negotiable
Both parties in a
negotiation have their own objectives: the salesperson wants to maximise
profits, and the customer wants to minimise cost. Although the customer will be
guarding their purse, they will be willing to pay up if they are convinced that
the product is right and see value in it. At this sensitive stage, patience,
empathy and assertiveness are key.
Customers will
inevitably raise objections and doubts. Jumping to the negotiation stage
without managing each objection is
a poor move. Objections can always be successfully dealt with in order to
ensure you understand the customer’s position and the strength of the potential
sale. If they’re not, negotiations become much more difficult.
Insufficiently
trained sales people who don’t complete the sales process will find themselves
on a weak footing when it comes to negotiation. They can compromise on price
far too soon. They will settle the sale just to make the deal, losing potential
profits.
Satisfaction =
sustainability
After a successful
negotiation, both parties should come away from the negotiation happy. It must
always be a Win-Win. If your customer beats you down to a point where you’re
barely making profit, this sale will be your first and last; there will be no
on-going relationship. If you’ve over-sold a product, this is equally
unsustainable; the customer will just go elsewhere in future.
The only way to
achieve satisfaction and sustainability is to approach the final negotiation
once you know that the customer is satisfied with the solution you are
providing. At this point, all risks are minimised. Valuable trading points are
not wasted, and mistakes that would give the buyer an advantage are not made.
Flexibility is
essential. You can shift certain elements of the deal around to still make a
profitable outcome. Negotiable points are price, further business or delivery
date. A sales person might drop the price, on condition of a high percentage
advance payment. For example, if you’ve quoted £2,500 for a service, and the
customer is only willing to spend £2,000, you can take elements out of the
product, i.e., ‘we’ll do it for £2,000, but that won’t include X’.
This article gives
you the absolute basics of negotiation, but it takes real sales training, coaching and practice rather than a
list of tips to generate money for your business. To save the profits that are
being lost by untrained sales people, see our Negotiating Winning Solutions programme
to discover how to negotiate winning solutions every time. Once you
know this time-tested successful formula, you’ll be laughing.
- See more at:
http://www.tlsasalestraining.com/content/wins-all-round-true-negotiation#sthash.lYQIUi0L.dpuf
