I came across a blog post on Paul Castain's Sales Playbook entitled "A Good Reason NOT to Negotiate."   It seems to me, many people feel this same way about negotiating business deals, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it with you... 

We very often hear people say that's it's difficult, if not impossible, to know the consequences for the other side.  And given the fact that most people don't think much about what it might mean to their customer to lose the deal, it's not particularly surprising that they feel that way.  The fact is, though, your customer really has only three likely Consequences of No Agreement (CNA):

Consequences of no agreement (CNA) analysis neutralizes virtually all of a buyer’s attempts to commoditize.  It paves the way for productive and more collaborative discussion about what is really being bought and sold. CNA analysis guides you through developing your total value proposition and mapping that value to the customer, one deal at a time, shifting the negotiation conversation away from just pricing.

At the negotiating table, the pressure we feel from commoditization is both common and pervasive. It can often be crippling because it limits our options. You think less clearly and have a harder time focusing on your goals. As a result, bad decisions are made – based on temporary conditions – that last, in some cases, forever.  Commoditization pressure is just another tactic a buyer uses to back you into a corner so that lowest price becomes the issue rather than quality, customer service, your ability to solve their business problems, a feature they might actually value or a dozen other valuable things you may have to offer.  They do this because it works; we feel the pressure and begin to react defensively.

The most likely sources of information in your organization are those who have handled a specific customer before, those who have worked for the customer, and those who have worked for your most likely competitor in this deal.  Virtually every organization I've ever been in employs people who have worked for either its customers or its competitors.  I have found, though, that the hardest thing to do is to find out exactly who those people are.  In addition, the larger the selling organization, the harder it is to find them.  At the same time, however, the larger the selling organization, the more likely it is that people are there who will be able to help you.

One of the many ways that a negotiation can be intentionally or unwittingly anchored is through the sales process.  For example, if in the sales process you've done a great job of anchoring on selling the total value of your company's solution to the customer, in all likelihood that's the kind of package you'll end up negotiating.  On the other hand, if in the sales process you've only called on the lowest-level purchasing agent, and she's been pushing hard for you to offer them the lowest price, price is most likely what you'll end up negotiating.  The old adage "You negotiate what you sell" is true.  The quality of the sales process does have an impact on how easy or difficult the negotiation is.

Contrary to popular belief, buyer behavior follows certain patterns. In fact, our primary research, as well as subsequent work with our clients, shows that 97% of buyer behavior in sales/negotiation can be anticipated. And that means a company can develop strategies to deal with it.

Just got back from Amman Jordan and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. While there I recalled a speech I heard over 15 years ago from a Swiss professor on International business. What she said was that we should focus on the similarities around the world vs. the differences. At the time, this sure seemed like counter intuitive thinking as I had always been told that doing global business was about the differences. Over the years, and this past week it occurs to me that she was right on target. Talking about selling and negotiating in any other country is slightly different versions of the same discussion in the US.

When I think of a street fighter, two words come to mind:  lean and mean. I envision two lean opponents, stripped of all the trappings - the ring, the gloves, the fans and the corporate sponsors - testing their wits, wills and stamina anytime, anywhere.

It's important to bear in mind that just because a customer asks for something in a business negotiation, it doesn't mean you have to respond.  Buyers sometimes make truly outrageous demands, but that's no reason for you to go back to headquarters to ask for whatever it is they're demanding.  The important thing to remember, regardless of how outrageous the request may be, is to not get emotional about it.