Preparing To Be a Player As a rule, success depends on practice; hours and hours and hours of practice. It’s true in sports. It’s true in music. It’s true in entertainment. Most professionals wisely eschew seat-of-the-pants performances. In the sales profession, we often enter into a negotiation with little to no preparation. As a result we rely heavily on instinct. Instinct tends to drive us … Read more
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 … Read more
Do salespeople have to “give” to “get”? 95% of salespeople and sales managers believe salespeople have to “give to get.” A review of recorded buyer/seller interactions debunks this sales myth. Why do we feel the need to “give to get?” This widely held belief is based on the idea of “qualifying” the buyer. Qualifying is extracting information for the seller’s purposes. There’s a need for … Read more
4 Rules of Price Concessions When a buyer puts pressure on a seller, the seller’s natural reaction is to start offering concessions. Yet if a seller gives big discounts quickly, they degrade themselves and diminish their offering in the eyes of the buyer. Before giving any concessions, savvy sales negotiators will deploy the mobile defense plan to politely, but firmly, stand behind the price. If … Read more
One of my First Negotiations I’ve said before that a master negotiator makes sure his counterpart walks away from the table feeling like a winner. All savvy buyers are players, and they love negotiating, which they treat like a game. They enjoy it, and when they play with another trained player, it’s fun for them. It may not be fun for the seller. In fact, … Read more
Mobile Defense Plan When a salesperson believes the buyer has the money, and thus all the leverage, negotiating a deal feels insurmountable. This belief causes mistakes to happen, as the seller starts offering concessions in order to get a deal. Any deal. Instead of turning into a wimpy seller, learn to deploy the Mobile Defense Plan for sales negotiations. This four-step plan is designed to … Read more
Giving Concessions is Not Negotiating Master negotiators make sure their counterpart walks away from the table feeling like a winner. And they do so with a minimum of concessions. Yet, the paradox is that sellers who give away huge concessions easily, will end up with an unhappy prospect who harbors some vague, inexplicable sense that he’s been cheated. Giving concessions is not negotiating. Marking up … Read more
When to Disengage There may be a time when you find yourself in a situation in which a buyer is asking for something that you, as the salesperson, do not know how to respond to. When this happens, it’s important to remember that an agreement does not need to be reached in one meeting. It’s okay to disengage from the discussion to gather more information, … Read more
Create a Safe Negotiating Space In a career as a salesperson, chances are you will come across a professional negotiator. Someone who has been trained to get the best deal possible. There are plenty of strategies to prepare you to work with these savvy people. But most deals are going to be with average buyers. People who hate conflict as much as you do. In … Read more
The Gap between Sales and Marketing Almost every company you can think of (whether successful or just mediocre) has something in common with all the rest: there is a gap between the sales and marketing groups. In some cases it is more like a gaping wound, or a fathomless abyss. In others, who have worked really, really hard on the problem, it is just a … Read more