When working with purchasing departments, try to find out who the “key players” are in the department.

I always tell salespeople to not enter into a negotiation phase too quickly. Concentrate on selling first, and only turn to negotiating if the circumstances warrant it. Even then, some helpful tips can ensure the negotiation process goes smoother than if you weren’t prepared.

Be sure to show your confidence by maintaining eye contact when you tell your customer your price. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with many sophisticated professional buyers, and it’s amazing what they tell me. They are very quick to share various techniques they use to determine how confident a salesperson is and, more importantly, to find ways to break them down to get a better deal.

The last few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time with very seasoned salespeople from several different industries. These are some very capable people who are professional and mature in their sales process. At the same time, though, their level of sales motivation is not always where it should be and their sales performance is not quite what it should be.

We’ve all heard the rule of listening to what the customer has to say, and there’s not a salesperson who thinks they don’t listen to the customer. Reality, however, is quite the opposite. I find time after time when I’m working with salespeople across any number of industries that the failure to listen is a huge issue.