Below is an excerpt from the book I co-authored with Matthew Hudson titled Advisor Selling: The Art of Becoming a Trusted Advisor.
It’s worth reprinting here, as it gives a great perspective on negotiating.
You can’t negotiate anything until you’ve first sold. One of the biggest problems salespeople have is thinking the only way to close a sale is by negotiating.
One morning, while I was preparing to conduct an account manager workshop for a major company, a salesperson approached me and asked, “Negotiating is one of the best ways to close the sale, right?”
I was taken aback by the question, because I could tell by his voice that he wanted me to say that it wasn’t just one of the best ways, but it was the absolute very best way. There was no way I was going to tell him that.
Here’s what I told him: “Maybe, but it will come with a hefty destruction of profit. Too many salespeople are negotiating when they really should be selling. Are you one of them? If so, it’s costing you and your company dearly.”
Needless to say, this wasn’t what he was hoping to hear.
Now, just so you don’t think my goal was to run him over with a bus, let me explain more. My goal was to get him thinking. I explained to him that his question was excellent, and it was at the heart of what we would be addressing in the training.
You should never feel that the only way to close a sale is by negotiation.
One way to avoid negotiating all together is to sell first, negotiate second. When you sell first—and genuinely uncover the true needs of the customer—you will rarely have a need for negotiation.
Are you too quick to negotiate? That’s a habit you can and should change if you want greater success.
To find our more about becoming a trusted advisor, invest in yourself with a copy of Advisor Selling.
Copyright 2014, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
