National Sales Center

How Sales Negotiation Strategies Work

By, Nick Moreno

Sales negotiation can be frustrating. You are almost there but you are not there yet. It’s not an order until you get ink on paper. Here is some advice and strategies that will make a sales negotiation work for you.

Lawyers Involved In A Sales Negotiation Strategies

Here come the lawyers! You worked hard to get to this point and now the lawyers are leading the charge in your sales negotiation. You may be tempted to side with your future client but I strongly advise against it. Your lawyer is there to protect your company’s best interest. During a sales negotiation, keep your lawyer on your side and work with him or her to create a rock solid deal.

A Sales Negotiation Is About Limits

You must know your limits during a sales negotiation. Sure you want the deal but you also must consider how badly you want the deal. Clearly identify what you are willing to give up and what you absolutely will not give up. You can’t begin to negotiate a sale until your limits are properly identified.

A Sales Negotiation Strategies And Your Commissions

I’ve seen sales reps negotiate away their commissions. The prospect wants a lower price and the rep’s company claims they can’t afford to pay commissions at the new price margin. I say, “bologna”.  Forget the sales negotiation and start negotiating with your own company. A sale without commissions is useless. Always insure you will receive every penny of the commissions due to you. If you settle for less, that’s your call but one I would not make.

Creative Sales Negotiations Strategies

What your prospect wants and what your prospect wants to accomplish may be two different things. Every successfully sales negotiation demands creativity.  Let me give you an example of one sale that I successfully negotiated using creative strategies.

I was selling 800 phone service to a large new Las Vegas hotel. The rate per minute was always determined by the monthly commitment. A $10,000 monthly commitment would always get a lower rate than a $5,000 commitment. Well, all that was about to change.

The new hotel refused to have a monthly commitment in the contract and frankly, I agreed with them. They said that an 800 number was about people calling the hotel and they had no control over people calling them. They would not commit in a contract to something they did not control.

This was the first time this issue came up in a sales negotiation. This was a new hotel so they had no history as to how many calls they would receive. Obviously, this situation cried out for some creativity. We substituted “exclusivity” for the monthly minimum. The hotel gave us all their phone traffic and we gave them a great rate. The sales negotiation strategy was a success.

Sales negotiation strategies should be part of every sales training program. I hope this advice will help you the next time you negotiate a sale.

To your success!

Nick Moreno

Tags: Sales Training