who has the power in this b2b negotiation?
Our seller is providing data services to a major telecom company and has been told by the buyer that, although they had been the only seller in the market, there are now two other suppliers with exactly the same data. In fact, one of those competitors has offered to not only discount their fees by almost 50 percent but also to pay both the cost of taking the existing data out of the customer's organization and the cost of switching suppliers.
In the meantime, the seller's account manager is being pushed on her sales goals for the year and is afraid that her job may be in jeopardy if she loses this high-visibility account. She feels, understandably, that the customer has all the power in this negotiation and that she may lose the sale if she doesn't concede. If she gives in, she reasoned, at least her company would retain the business, even if at a much lower margin.