For many years, we have been asking our global clients for the most common and most difficult verbal negotiation tactics they face every day.  Their buyer's comments many sound different, but they all have one thing in common.  Whether buyers are asking for a price discount, an extended warranty or some other concession, the message is loud and clear:  they want something, they want it now and they want it for free... or less!  From our research and from what we have observed, they are very likely to get it!

Negotiation is a very strategic issue.  At the highest level, the business deals that a salesperson completes during the year roll-up and actually become that brand. The way you negotiate your business deals around the world is either a deposit to or a withdrawal from your brand equity.

Sometimes when a customer chooses ‘No Decision / Business As Usual’  they are making the right decision for their organization at that specific time.  Typically customers evaluate each potential project or initiative (either to address a problem or to act on an opportunity), prioritize the projects, and allocate available funds and resources according to project priority.  ‘No Decision / Business As Usual’ results when the proposed project does not reach a high enough level of priority. 

A very common trap, one that surprisingly enough is even taught by some business 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 atmosphere:  if they disagree, they have what they need to shop around, whether for a better price or more features for the same price.

Most people will agree that a successful negotiation results in a ‘win-win’ from the perspective of the buyer and the seller.  To create a win-win outcome, the seller needs to know the buyer’s issues and their buying criteria so that value can be positioned effectively to meet (or exceed) the buyer's needs.

It seems that most of us, even younger salespeople, were taught to sell by upselling our own products and services. This model is completely outdated given the current demands of procurement agents and business people.

Has this ever happened to you?  Those 138 tips and tactics you memorized at the negotiation seminar... you can't remember one.  Your mind races to determine which negotiation personality type you could categorize this hard-bargainer under and all you can come up with is 'jerk.'  (Unfortunately, this fifth personality type wasn't discussed!)

In our work with major buying organizations we find that very few purchasing decisions are made based on price alone.  Virtually every purchasing organization we have experience with evaluates suppliers with a matrix and price is simply one of the many criteria.  In most instances, the lowest priced supplier does not get the business.  Buyers are charged with supplying their organizations with the lowest total cost of ownership solution.

And most salespeople never think about!  It is not human. It is not department or LOB-specific.   But it is there every day.  And very often this competitor quietly causes your deal to ‘go away.'

What salespeople really need is not more processes but more data, that is, more information concerning their customers’ needs and how they can meet those needs better than the customers’ alternatives. When salespeople have this additional data, they will be able to recognize that deals are not that different from each other. While it is true that customers all have different needs, and that both the solutions a supplier provides and its alternatives have wide ranges, when needs, solutions, and alternatives are viewed from a high enough level, it becomes obvious that the issues that must be dealt with fall into very specific areas, or follow patterns.  And while these areas may change with different customer verticals or solution types, they continue to be similar. These areas include: