National Sales Center

New Thoughts On Sales Negotiation Skills Training
From, Nick Moreno

I’ve noticed a lot of activity recently about sales negotiation train and the skills required to successfully close the deal. I assume this is a result of our economic climate.  Sellers are anxious to preserve their profit margins while buyers are determined to protect their bottom lines.

I’d like to share some new thoughts with you about sales negotiation skills training. While there are things the salesperson needs to know about the sales negotiation process, more often than not, the salesperson is left out of the process.

Sales Negotiation Skills Training

Salespeople are often handicapped with standard pricing along with standard terms and conditions in their sales contract.  When a prospect wants to negotiate something more favorable, lawyers and the Pricing Management Department enter the picture. I feel those two entities are the ones that need sales negotiation skills training.

So, what’s the sales rep to do now that others are involved in the sales negotiation process? On the surface, it may appear that the sales rep is out of the picture but nothing could be further from the truth. For that reason, I thought it was time for some new thoughts about sales negotiation skills training.

Sales Negotiation Skills

I want salespeople to understand that the corporate lawyers and Pricing Management are on their side. Never treat these groups as the enemy, and that includes any comments you may be tempted to make to your prospect. Prospects will feel better about your final offer if they view your team as being united.

Sales negotiation skills training is about understanding what your prospect wants in return for doing business with you. Your prospect may be asking for a “deal breaker”… something totally unacceptable to your company. You may still be in a position to satisfy your prospect if you are creative. Creativity is a key skill in sales negotiations.

About Sales Negotiation Skills Training

Here is an example of how I once used creativity to successfully negotiate a sales deal to closure. At the time, I was a young sales manager selling telecommunication services to hotels in Las Vegas. A new hotel was built and I convinced them that I would provide them with the best 800 Service. However, coming up with acceptable pricing was both a nightmare and a tremendous learning experience that changed forever the way this telecommunications company conducted business.

Pricing for the 800 Service was based on a volume commitment. In the contract, the hotel had to commit to a minimum amount of monthly minutes. Based on that commitment, I could offer them my pricing. Most hotels have no problem with this because they have a history of traffic and usage. However, in this case, it was a new hotel void of any telecommunication 800 track record. It was time for me to put my sales negotiation skills training to good use.

My company was firm on their request for a monthly minimum commitment. They didn’t want to offer a competitive price only to have that traffic switched to a competitor that may offer a lower price in the future. I clearly understood their concern.

At the hotel, I was negotiating with the most brilliant and skilled negotiator I ever meet. His concern was that 800 traffic was inbound, namely people calling the hotel for reservations. He explained that he had no control over people calling his hotel and he would not commit in a contract to something he did not control. I clearly understood his concern.

My negotiating mission was to find a way to satisfy both parties and this is why I feel creativity is critical to sales negotiation skills training. My prospect would not commit to a monthly minimum and my employer demanded a monthly minimum out of concern that the prospect could switch the traffic to a lower priced carrier during the term of the contract. I listened to both parties and got creative.

Instead of a monthly commitment, I proposed changing the terms to “exclusivity”. In other words, the prospect only had to commit to giving us all their 800 traffic during the three-year term of the contract. The prospect accepted this proposal. My employer also accepted this proposal because it locked them in as the single provider for all 800 traffic during the three-year term. Thanks to my sales negotiation skills training, I closed the deal.

What can we learn from the above-mentioned sales negotiation? Listen and understand what the parties are requesting and develop creative ways to successfully address the concerns of both parties.

It’s also important to note that you want to structure a deal that meets to total satisfaction of your employer. Anything less could damage your career reputation.

Another point often not mentioned in sales negotiation skills training comes to mind. Since employers often pay for the training, an important aspect of sales negotiations is often omitted. A sales negotiation isn’t only between the sales rep and the prospect. The salesperson must also be skilled at negotiating internally. I had to negotiate with my lawyers more than with my prospect to close the deal. If my lawyers didn’t accept my proposal, I would have never gotten the order and if I argued with the lawyers, it could have cost me my job.

I hope you found some useful points in my thoughts about sales negotiation skills training.

I wish you great sales success!

Nick Moreno

Discover the breakthrough sales success others are enjoying thanks to skills they’ve uncovered in this outstanding sales training course.

Tags: Sales Training