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As many of us all know, in sales negotiating is very important. Maybe you are trying to get a better price on a new car or house, trying to get an added service to your internet without paying anything for it, or maybe you are trying to get out of doing yard work for your spouse. These are all examples where negotiating can help you. There are many gambits you can use to get the better deal or make the other side feel as if they are getting the better deal. Your main goal is and should always be to get the best deal possible. Take your time with it and do not let yourself get flustered with the other negotiator. Negotiation is like a game of chess, you are always making moves to ensure that you are going to protect your king and take your opponent’s king out. In this article, I will go over several gambits and how they can help you negotiate with the little or the big guys. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Starting With The Pitch
With any kind of sales opportunity, you have to start with a pitch. Now the pitch does not have to be crazy or long. Most prospects do not want a long pitch. They want to get down to the point and see if this is in fact a good thing for them. Feel out the prospect first. Start with getting a introduction from them first. Have them tell you about themselves and their business, and then you introduce yourself. This gives the prospect an idea of what kind of sales rep they are talking to, and it also gives the sales rep an opportunity to see the type of prospect they are working with. It will also give you a good idea as to what type of pitch to use on them. A pitch should be just that, a pitch. It is not meant to be used as a “seal the deal” type situation. You are talking to the prospect and showing them what it is that you offer. You should take the proper steps to close the deal, and the pitch is just the first step. When doing a pitch, keep it simple. Do not dive too deep into what you are selling. An experienced buyer can investigate that and see that you are just trying to sell something, not make an actual connection with them. Making a connection is important as it sets the tone for your work relationship with your client or partner.
Now, this article is about negotiating is it not? Or at least that is what the title said. So, let me start off with some basic negotiation skills that will help you in your sales position.
The Basics
Nobody starts off as a great “negotiator”. It takes time and patience to really master it. Starting out on small items to use these tools is a good idea. The first thing to always do in a negotiation is to ask for more than you are expecting to get, because you may just get it. Think about it. For example, you walk into a deal and the client is looking to only commit to a six-month commitment on SEO services. You instruct them that six months might be a sufficient amount of time to accomplish what it is that they need, but if they really want to see results then you suggest that a twelve-month commitment is better suited for their SEO marketing needs. Twelve months leaves room for negotiation and it also raises the value of what you are selling or offering. They look into it and think “yeah, that makes sense. Let’s do that.” Some more basic tips to take away include:
- Never say yes to the first offer
- Do not say yes to the counter offer
- You could have done better with negotiating and gotten more.
Another thing to take into consideration is to know when negotiating is important and when it is not. Take your time with it and feel out the prospect first. Use your judgement when it is necessary.
Some Useful Gambits
The basics are great to start with, and it takes time to even master the basics when negotiating. Once you have mastered the basics then you can move on to other useful gambits that can play into your favor. One gambit is playing the reluctant seller. When playing the reluctant seller, you never want the buyer to think that you are eager to sell something right out of the gate. Imagine you own a really awesome old school muscle car that you bought for a steal and fixed up. muscle car lover sees the car and stops you outside of your house. They ask, “Is that for sale?” You know what you paid for it, and you are not sure if you want to sell it. That being said, you are interested in the buyer’s offer, so you say to the buyer “I am not really looking to sell it, but I tell you what – why don’t you go ahead and have a seat in the car?” By doing this you have done two things. you have let the buyer know that you are not looking to sell it, but you have also piqued their interest in the vehicle. Once the buyer is done with the car they will ask about the price again. You know what you have paid for it, and though you are not willing to part with it you want to hear the buyer’s offer. Once you hear the offer and understand that it is a lot more than you paid for the whole car, suddenly you have an urge to sell the car. A lot of folks will take the offer and run with it, but the reluctant seller knows that the buyer is in LOVE with the car and can probably get more out of them. As a result, you do the “flinch” gambit, which you always do when given an offer This causes the buyer to retract their previous offer and offer you more. Flinch at the first offer, and let the buyer come back with a higher offer.
I hope that you have found this article to be an interesting read. Most folks do not think that negotiating is that big of a deal. They go to a car dealership, see the sticker, and pay the sticker price. This is a foolish thing to do. When you pay sticker price, you put more money in the dealer’s pocket. The goal is to keep more money in your own pocket. The more money you keep in your pocket, the better negotiator you become. Not to mention the more money you keep in your pocket the happier your spouse is, which is always a good thing. Again, thank you for taking the time to read this article, and remember to never sell yourself short on what you are selling. Know your gambits. If you want to know more I highly suggest reading books or even more blogs on negotiating. Thank you again and have a wonderful day.
