Yesterday I gave you 10 tips to help prepare you for the negotiation process, so today I’m going to take things a step further by giving you some main principles or goals you should be aiming to achieve throughout your meetings and presentations.

Follow these 9 rules and you’re guaranteed to make a more profitable sale:

1. Always aim to get more from your customer than you expect me might agree to. You’ll be surprised at what people will agree to if they’re presented with the opportunity. Not presenting additional options will only limit your sales;
2. Avoid price crumbling. Don’t just lower your price because your prospect complains that it is too high. You need to believe in the value of your product and if you’re too quick to lower your price your customer will wonder if your product is even worth paying for;
3. Don’t give away your concessions; and
4. Don’t minimize the value of the concessions held by your prospect;
5. Be willing to negotiate the variables (which, if you followed yesterday’s plan, you have identified in advance);
6. Be a bit miserly. Don’t give away huge discounts right off the top. As mentioned before, you need to believe in the value of your product. Avoid making price cuts as much as possible. If you do make a major price cut you should be cutting services and benefits as well.
7. Be conscious of timelines and make sure you set deadlines. Don’t let a prospect drag the decision making process out forever. Set a deadline and let him know that discounted prices won’t be available if he doesn’t make a decision by that time.
8. Visualise the big picture in advance. Can you see the sale successfully closing? Use that visualisation to encourage yourself as you negotiate your final agreement.
9. Be conscious of your own weaknesses. Is there a part of the sales process you aren’t very skilled at? Seek out the additional training you need OR partner with someone who can help you out in the areas in which you need it.

Let’s face it. If you’re in sales your ultimate goal is to make a profit so that you can stay in business, pay your bills, and support your family. You can’t negotiate away every penny of commission you might have earned just to make a prospect happy. If he’s not willing to pay for your products or services in the beginning, he’s not likely to be a very reliable client later on down the line.

Don’t despair if the negotiation process doesn’t go as well as you think it should have. In some cases, you’re better off moving on to someone who cares enough about his business to pay for the services he needs!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

So you’ve managed to land an appointment with the head decision maker at XYZ Coropration and you’ve spent hours preparing your sales presentation. What will you do if, at the end of your presentation, you present your price point and the decision maker decides he wants to negotiate. Will you be prepared or will you stumble over what you thought was a fair price model to begin with?

Before you head out to your meeting, take the time to consider the following strategies and tips:

• Prepare for and assess the objectives – your objectives in presenting and the objectives the decisio maker wishes to achieve by listening to you. Do you both have similar goals?
• Decide for yourself in which areas you are willing to be a bit flexible when it comes to the development of a contract or long-term business plan.
• Plan your approach in advance and be prepared to follow a relatively set sequence of events.
• Take the time to discuss your position with your prospect. You may both have different positions or issues but if you take the time to work through them you may find yourselves on common ground.
• Create a positive work environment. Don’t lock yourselves up in a small office for hours on end. Make it a lunch or dinner meeting or find some other welcoming yet neutral ground from which to work.
• Listen very carefully to everything your prospect says and be prepared to question anything and everything you don’t understand.
• Make your proposal and specify what you want or expect.
• Compromise, if necessary. Make sure that any compromise results in a win/win situation for both parties.
• You may need to bargain in order to come to a compromise. Ask for the things you want and be prepared to modify your expectations if need be.
• Never concede without a fair trade.

These negotiation tips will apply whether you’re the salesmen or the prospect. Learn to apply them in all areas of your life and you’ll be even better prepared when faced with any type of negotiation – whether in sales or not.

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

On Friday I asked you to take a look at the number of phone calls you would need to make in order to close one sale. Calculating that number should have prepared you to sit down and start dialing again – this time with a specific coal in mind.

What I’d like you to do today, however, is make sure you have a great “cold calling plan.” Cold calling is about more than picking up the phone, hoping you get the right person on the line, and reading from your script. Here are the five things you need to do in order to be successful:

• Identify your target market. Who, out of everyone in the world, is most likely to want what you have to offer? Out of those people, who is most likely to actually make a purchase.
• Create your sales message in advance and practice it. Make sure that you write your message out the way you would speak – not as if you were writing a letter or email. Otherwise you’ll sound as if you’re reading from a script. Remember, the first 10-25 seconds of your message are the most important. You’ll either earn the attention of your prospect or you’ll earn a hang-up!
• Practice what you want to say out loud. Cold calling is very difficult, especially for new salespersons. Practice in the mirror, with friends or family, or with coworkers. Make sure you are comfortable and confident before you try to make your presentation.
• Start dialing. As we’ve already discussed, you won’t get any results unless you keep dialing the phone. Plan your cold calling time just as you would any other meeting or event. Add it to your calendar if you have to.
• Keep track of your results. Make sure you know how many times you’ve dialed, how many messages you left (and how many returned your call), how many people you reached on the first try, how many people rejected you immediately, and how many people were interested in what you have to say. You will, of course, want to track how many of those contacts actually turn into customers!

Prepare for your cold calling experience in advance and you won’t feel so awkward when you pick up the phone!

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

Are you surviving the recession? I maintain that your ability to survive during difficult economic times depends on your perception of your abilities as a salesperson, but I do admit that learning to work with a recession can sometimes be a bit difficult – especially if you’re used to making sales in good economic times.

Today I’d like to present you with five questions you can ask yourself during a recession. The answers should help you to determine what path you should take as you market your products and attempt to make new sales.

• What can I do to help my existing customers? Take a look at your existing customers and determine if there is anything you can do to enhance the value of the packages they’ve already purchased from you. If there is – do it. At the very least you will be strengthening their sense of customer loyalty.

• Can I refer any of my customers or prospects to each other? Again, if you’re willing to help your customers beyond what they’re willing to pay for they are more likely to remain loyal to you. They’re more likely to place additional orders, refer additional business, or simply stick with you even if your price point is a bit higher than they’d like.

• Can I ask any of my existing customers for referrals? It really is OK to ask for referrals, especially if you have clients who love your products and are willing to share their contact information. Look at some of your best clients and ask if they’ve met anyone they think might need your services.

• How many prospects must I speak to before one of them will make a purchase? Now is the time to sit down and make this calculation. Knowing your personal contact:close ratio will help you to plan your marketing strategy and allot the proper amount of time to contacting new potential customers.

• Am I really organized? Do you feel as though you have an eternal to-do list but no time to get things done?? Take a close look at your to-do list and cross off anything that can be construed as either nonproductive or as a task that will not help you to generate revenue. Making new sales should be your main focus.

You are responsible for your bottom line when it comes to sales this year. Don’t let the recession slow you down. Simply change your mindset and you’ll be surprised at the results you are capable of achieving.

Sean

Sales Expert - Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker