in the middle of read only to lose your shirt pays bringing up edge focus on be designed to the only Managing the Sales Negotiation Process How many times have you heard: “You’ve got to drop your price by 10% or we will have no choice but to go with your competition.”. “You will have to make an exception to your policy if you want our business.” “I know that you have good quality and service, but so do your competitors. What we need to (1) ________ here is your pricing.” “I agree that those special services you keep (2) ________ would be nice, but we simply don’t have the funds to purchase them. Could you include them at no additional cost? ” Every time you hear statements like these, you’re (3)________ a difficult sales negotiation. How you handle that negotiation will determine whether or not you close the sale and how profitable that sale will be. In order to give you a real (4)________ in your sales negotiations, some key points have been listed below: • Don’t believe everything you see and hear Part of a good salesperson’s skill is to learn to (5) ________ people and situations very quickly. However, when it gets down to negotiating, you have to take everything you see and hear with a grain of salt. Buyers are good negotiators. And thus they are good actors. You may be (6)________ person who has what she needs, but everything she does and says, from body language to the words she uses, will (7)________ lead you to believe that unless she gets an extra 10% off, she’s going with the competition. Be skeptical. Be suspicious. Test, probe, and see what happens. • Don’t Offer your bottom line early in the negotiation How many times have you been asked to “give me your best price”? And have you ever given your best price (8) ________ discover that the buyer still wanted more? You have to play the game. It’s expected. If you could drop your price by 10%, start out with 0%, or 2%, or 4%. Leave yourself room to negotiate some more. Who knows- you may get it for a 2% reduction. You might have to go all the way to 10%, but often you won’t. A little stubbornness (9)________big dividends. • Sell and negotiate simultaneously Think of selling and negotiating as two sides of the same coin. Sometimes one side is face up, and sometimes the other side, but they are always both there. This is particularly true in your earliest contacts with the buyer. The face the buyer sees is that of a salesperson demonstrating features and benefits. The hidden face is that of a negotiator probing and seeking out information that may be invaluable later should issue like price, quality, delivery, etc, have to be negotiated • Be patient Finally, and more important, be patient. A sale is a high energy, fast moving business. Patience is one commodity that is in relatively short supply, but if you’re impatient in a negotiation, you’ll (10) ________. So be patient. Take the time that you need, don’t rush to give in, don’t show your anxiety, stay cool and don’t’ panic. Negotiating is a process and a game. Use the process and play the game. You’ll be astonished at the difference that it makes!