Sales & Marketing Authority, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

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