I have covered a few different tips that are essential to negotiating well. So far, we have looked at Sell First. Negotiate Second, Only Negotiate After They’ve Rejected Your Offer Twice, and Make Sure You Are Dealing with the Decision Maker.
Today we come to tip #4: Know their needs!
The more needs the customer has revealed to you, the greater your potential for closing the sale.
Entering into a negotiation not knowing at least 3 of the customer’s critical needs will most likely mean you’ll have a low probability of success. You may still close the sale, but you will do so at a value less than what you could have attained.
Uncovering the customer’s needs requires two things:
First, the customer must have a level of confidence in you to reveal their needs. Second, you must be able to validate the needs.
A customer who does not have confidence in you is not going to reveal their true needs. We see this many times in a car buying situation where the customer will share with the salesperson what they think will help put them in the best position to win. The reason they do this is because they don’t have confidence in the salesperson.
Conversely, when the customer has confidence in the salesperson, they will share their true needs. More importantly, they will allow the salesperson to explore the needs to ensure they fully understand them.
Additionally, a high level of confidence will allow the salesperson to help the customer see other opportunities the customer may not have realized were possible.
The biggest thing to remember is the process is driven by the salesperson asking questions and taking the time to listen and then asking more questions based on what the customer shares with you.
Many times the best information you will learn from the customer is not what they tell you initially, but what they tell you on the 2nd or 3rd follow-up question.
Never be shy about asking follow-up questions, because what you’re doing is allowing the customer to see for themselves the size of their need. The more the customer sees for themselves how critical the need is, the greater your probability of closing the sale successfully.
For more great information on Negotiation Success, check out Breakthrough Sales University! You won’t regret making this investment in yourself.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
