Negotiating – “Caution! Should you Negotiate?”

Working with hundreds of clients over the years, it has become apparent that when we’re asked to help improve their negotiating skills, that is often the symptom of a more significant problem: not effectively executing a sales process.

Granted, salespeople need to have practical negotiation skills, as many times it’s simply part of the customer’s buying process.

However, for a typical sales organization, there are many negotiations they should never have entered in the first place and are not likely to obtain a positive outcome.??

• First, if the customer is a good fit for your organization, they will appreciate your brand and value add services and unique characteristics of your product or service.?

Ensure your salespeople are focusing their time and resources on opportunities they are likely to close.

• Second, most sales organizations do not systematically disengage from poor opportunities (most companies have a 25% closing rate, i.e., they lose 75% of the time).

Ensure your salespeople have clear criteria for making the informed decision to disengage from a marginal opportunity.

• Third, discuss the reason for every negotiation. Is the client not a good fit? Did they not recognize the value your solution brings? Were you asked to quote to drive the price down from the competitor they already plan to buy from?

Treat every negotiation as a Yield Sign, consider if it’s safe before proceeding through the intersection. Consider if this opportunity warrants a negotiation; is a positive outcome likely??Identify the root cause for the negotiation.