Lessons From a Savvy Seller
A seasoned sales leader, who I had the privilege of working with, pointed out that, as a young salesperson, he made three mistakes at the end of a long sales cycle as he entered the final negotiation:
- No real plan. His plan was “to get the deal.”
- Ask for the order. When his old boss asked how he intended to do so, he’d say, “I’m going to ask the customer what it’s going to take to win his business by the end of the quarter.”
- The big give. He’d sweeten the pot with a big concession, thinking it would close the deal in one decisive move.
His boss asked him to view this from the customer’s point of view.
When he did, he realized this must appear desperate and selfish.
It also set the customer up to take advantage of him.
He passed this lesson on to his salespeople. He counseled them to be disciplined and purposeful at every customer meeting.
- Establish purpose prior to action.
- Use a negotiating process to prepare, execute and debrief every meeting.
- Use the results of the debriefing to plan the next step.
- Engage over a three-week period, with no big give up front.
- Yield concessions with discipline.
Learn more about negotiating process in Negotiating with the Savvy Software Buyer.