Teaching the Art of Sales Negotiations

Know Your Product Or Service

Salesmen trying to force products on customers only fail over time. The main key to negotiations is product knowledge. Before an employee plans to engage in the sales process, provide them with as much background about the product or service as possible. Its applications, operation and even troubleshooting processes help the salesman understand the item completely. Once they present it to the customer, salesmen can show the item's true value. When a customer perceives value in an item, the price doesn't appear too shocking. Applying a high price to an item that is poorly described only disrupts the negotiation process and often causes a no-sale situation. George Athan has put in more than 10,000 hours of research in the themes of Sales, Marketing, Influence and Persuasion, and Psychology to totally see how we settle on our buy choices and all the more critically, how items ought to be displayed and exhibited to the market.

Long-Term Negotiations

Certain industries, such as heavy machinery, require long-term negotiations over six-figure sales. These relationships need to be treated carefully to avoid offending customers. For example, the salesman cannot call the customer each day and hard-sell them the product. Conversations should be spread across several weeks while talking about industry-wide subjects, rather than the potential sale itself. Cultivating a business relationship allows the customer to trust the salesman. A savvy salesman may troubleshoot a current product in use, providing the service free-of-charge, to show good faith. That customer has a good reason to agree to the sale in the near future.

Understanding The Customer's POV

Each customer has a unique point of view that needs to be understood by the salesman. For short-term negotiations, talk candidly about ultimate goals. Are they looking for a new or used car? Is mileage a concern? Understanding concerns and desires helps you narrow down a product or service for the customer that still brings in profits. If they're concerned about buying a used electronic surveying device, for example, offer a discounted repair contract to entice the overall sale. Customers want reassurance that they'll be supported even after the sale. Service contracts or warranties are perfect accompaniments to a sale.

Also Read: Teaching the Art of Sales Negotiations

Concede Strategic Items

The art of reciprocation is a strong force in sales. If you have a particularly difficult sale to make, consider a concession. Offer free floor mats in a new car, for instance. Even provide free oil changes for the first 10,000 miles when the customer buys the top car model on the lot. These concessions cost very little in the overall big picture. The profit is in the large items, covering any small inventory loss on service or accessories. As a result, customers feel like they got something for free, giving them a sense of obligation to buy the large item in return.

The art of sales negotiation requires people skills and a basic knowledge of psychological principles. With time and care, each sale can be successful.

To learn how to become a dominate force in sales and outperform others, MindStorm has created the Power Persuasion Program. We developed a formula that combines powerful presentation style pitch with consultative selling so you are literally getting the best of both worlds- each compensating where the other lacks. This method creates intense interest right from the beginning and then helps the customer make that purchase that he or she is now excited about- it does all of this with no wasted movements so your sales will skyrocket.

Multiplying Your Business by Multiplying Your Leads

A Business and a Salesperson both need a steady flow of leads. They need to never run out because when they run out, even for a moment, their growth is on hold. Sales opportunities (leads) are like oxygen for the business.  A fast growth company can only grow as quickly as the sales opportunities come in, and it always starts with generating leads. Obviously, you can repeatedly sell to your existing customer base but there’s only so much they can buy. For rapid growth, you constantly need new clients, and to get clients you consistently need to generate sales meetings with prospects to have the opportunity to convert them. George Athan purposely say sales meetings because people use the word ‘leads’ to describe many different things. Just so there’s no confusion with terms like suspects, prospects, lists, lead, marketing qualified lead, sales qualified lead, or opportunity, let’s be clear. We want a consistent flow of qualified prospects who meet (via telephone or in person) with a salesperson to engage in a sales conversation about their business challenges or goals so you can offer your product or service as a solution.

Without a constant flow of these sales meetings, you won’t have a fast growth company. New client acquisition must be constant, new strategic partnerships should be forged, and an ongoing effort to continue this expansion should happen from every angle. Every minute of every business day should be a minute that’s being used to create awareness, build new relationships, and deepen your market penetration. If not, there’s another salesperson on another sales team at your competitor’s company, who’s calling your potential next client right now. One of the reasons why many small businesses without a sales team struggle is because the business owner, wearing many hats, is responsible for sales. This means every moment that they’re working on bookkeeping or servicing an existing client, that company stopped growing. Fast growth companies don’t have an off switch for sales. 

Imagine a salesperson with back-to-back sales meetings in their calendar. They’re a top producer, generating a very high rate of return on investment for the company. In contrast, imagine the typical salesperson that spends 20% of their day engaging in sales activity. Of their eight-hour day, less than two hours are spent discovering a prospect’s needs, presenting, closing, and overcoming objections.  Think about companies with large sales teams that have gaps in their calendar because they don’t have enough leads. The bigger the team, the more gaps of time without selling, the more damage being done to the company.