Do you know that the most important step of negotiating actually has nothing to do with negotiating. What is it?
1. Sell First. Negotiate Second.
We’ll always secure a higher price if we sell first. Too many salespeople jump straight to negotiating, thinking it’s the only chance they have to close the sale.
However, negotiating too soon often leads to two things and they’re both problematic. First, the race to close quickly leads to fewer sales, not more. Second, the sales that you do close wind up being made at a lower price with lower profit.
Wow! That sure doesn’t sound like a good recipe for success – selling less and selling cheaper. You would be hard pressed to find a business school embracing such a sales philosophy!
“Sell first and negotiate second” is a strategy based on the fact you can’t be successful negotiating until both you and the other party have a clear understanding of where each other is coming from.
This means the customer must have a clear understanding of what you have to offer and you, the salesperson, must know clearly the customer’s needs. All of this can only be uncovered during the selling phase. Attempting to find this out while negotiating is a recipe for failure.
Once the customer knows you’re willing to negotiate with them over the terms, it’s amazing how they will change their strategy with regard to what they are willing to share with you.
The selling phase is a much more relaxed process. It’s a discussion where you are able to uncover the customer’s real needs, and you’re able to validate if the customer truly is the decision maker.
Rushing into a negotiation without minimally understanding where you stand is simply never going to work. Yet, many salespeople do that when they aren’t able to close the sale immediately.
Before you even think about negotiating, allow the customer to reject your offer and get them to share with you why they are rejecting your offer.
Want to know the other critical factors for negotiating?!
You can find all of them in my free eBook! Click on the below image to find out more!
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.
