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We can’t effectively negotiate the details of a sale if we’re not prepared to lose the sale. The sales professional who needs a deal to close in 24 hours, in order to hit his monthly quota, is in a very weak negotiating position with the customer.

We’ve All Been There
Customers can smell when we’re in this situation. They can and will take advantage of a poor negotiating position. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are things we can do that are both preventive and reactive when we find ourselves in a less than optimal bargaining scenario.

Preventive Steps To Avoid Negotiating From A Weak Position
We can help to ensure that we don’t end up in a poor negotiating position by taking the following preventive steps:

• Strive never to be in a position to need a sale in the first place. Be able to walk away from any deal. This is the axis of negotiating strength.
• Keep a full funnel or pipeline of prospects. Knowing that our funnel is full makes a lost sale less damaging to our emotions and gives us confidence that the next sale is just around the corner.

Reactive Steps When Negotiating From A Weak Position
If we find ourselves in an anemic negotiating position, we can take the following steps:

• The first person who talks, loses. This is one of the most important negotiating skills we can learn. For example, if a customer asks us what additional services we are willing to provide at no charge, our answer should always be, “What services are you looking for?” Frequently the customer will ask for less than we would have been willing to give.
• Be psychologically prepared to lose the sale. This can remove our “smell” of weakness to the customer and it can minimize the damage to our confidence if we actually do lose the deal.
• In psychology there is a phrase that states, “Act yourself into health.” This statement encourages the patient to behave in a desired way before it becomes second nature to them. We can use this principle to act as if we don’t need a savagely negotiated deal with a customer. This can help to convince the customer and us that our negotiation is emanating from a position of power. Why? Because we are behaving as if we have a strong negotiating foundation.

These Are Advanced Sales Tips
This is not Sales Tips 101 stuff. Doing a good job of managing and avoiding a weak negotiating position with our customers is a sales skill that moves us from average sales professionals to rainmakers.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Related posts:

1. You May Be Blind To This Customer Negotiating Tactic

Tags: negotiation, posture, Prospecting, prospects

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