Good morning!

“I love to negotiate,” said no one. Ever.

Negotiation means confrontation and disagreement. Negativity swirls all around the subject and it causes a lot of discomfort. What’s more, the net result can mean you’ve won the order but have suffered a loss of some kind as well.

Now, I could give you the top five sales tips on the subject, but you could Google that just as easily as hearing it from me.

I could—and will—advise you to read an excellent book on the subject, “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss. Interesting, engaging, and entertaining, Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator who brings his skills to the business world.

But in all the research I did for an upcoming Sales Vault workshop on the subject, nowhere did I find the advice you are about to hear:

Expect it.

Expect to negotiate. You see, I find sales reps are often blindsided when they encounter push back. This is especially true for existing customers. They just accept the reorder, get a quote, and send the number over to the client. But when the customer says, “We’ve gotten other quotes,” they panic. Or when a new customer asks, “Is that your best price?” their immediate reaction is to lower their bid.

You need to approach every encounter with the understanding and expectation that you’ll be confronted with a negotiation. Be ready with a response, gang, because when you give your price, it’s game over. Your choices are to lower the price or substantiate it.

So, be ready.

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Speaking of that Sales Vault workshop, we’ll be discussing negotiating and closing on November 28 at 11:30am ET via Zoom. Sign up at SalesVault.pro/Events or call Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036 for more information.