A very common trap, one that surprisingly enough is even taught by some negotiating books, is that we make only one offer.  What does this accomplish?  Since deals always involve making multiple buying influencers happy, one offer most likely focuses on addressing the needs of only one buyer but not all of them.  It communicates that you have assessed their situation and are now in the best position to tell them what they need most.  And it immediately sets up a competitive atmostphere; if they disagree they have what they need to shop around, whether for a better price or more features for the same price.

By shifting your perspective from simply offering one best-effort "deal" to a choice of deals that address different business relationships, you give customers choices they didn't know they would have from one seller.  Each offer variation focuses on value and problem solving in slightly different ways, addressing the needs of different influencers in the customer organization and letting them choose what's most important.

To learn more about creating additional offers, request our MEO article.

To view additional traps we fall into, check out this blog post.