Sales and The Art of Persuasion - Understanding & Using the 7 Principles of Sales Negotiation

Principle #1
Gather and Manage Information in Advance

Henry Kissinger, one of the great American diplomats once said "It would be absolutely disastrous for us to go into a negotiation not knowing in advance what the other side was going to propose."

Governments and companies spend millions of dollars to find out about the other side's position before negotiations. Doesn't it make sense that we spend a little time to find out more about our clients' requirements in our day to day negotiations?

This is especially important if you are in sales. Sales negotiators with the most successful results plan in advance. So what kind of information do you need to get before hand?

Here is a list of 4 things that will serve you tremendously -

* Goals: What are the positional goals of the other side? What will the product/service you are selling help them achieve? What are your opponents expectations?

* Power: Who is the key decision maker you need to influence? Also, how much power do the clients have over you - if they don't get the product from you, can they get it somewhere else? How much information do they have on your product/service? What are their possible objections and their alternatives available?

* Real interests: What is their real interest? What would getting the deal they like do for them? How are they going to use the product or service?

* Real needs over wants: What is the desire behind the product/service that they want to buy from you? Can you satisfy their needs with another product/service?

How do you get the information you need?

Research the client - company news, trade shows, business journals, job boards, and talk to staff, for any hints of what's happening with them.

Other sources of information on your clients are asking people in your network. You can even call previous clients and ask them questions on why they bought from you and what their objections were, what their true needs and interests were - to get better ideas.

If you are tech savvy, then do your research online. Keyword analysis will show you what clients are searching for when they are looking for your product and service. Forum questions search will help you uncover their objections, frustrations and desires around your product and service.

How to manage information?

Just like gathering information is important, so is managing that information. There is nothing worse than talking your clients out of a negotiation deal, right?

Once, we did sales negotiation training at a Laser Treatment Fat Loss Center. We video taped the sales staff while they were talking to potential clients. One salesperson negotiated a ten thousand dollar plan with a client. Once she said yes, he got so excited and started showing her the other plans that the center offers. After fifteen minutes of him talking, the potential client said, "wait a minute, I have to think about this some more before I sign up because I was not aware of all these options before".

Revealing too much information weakens your positional power.

Information is power, so gather it well and manage it very carefully.

Investing a little time BEFORE you negotiate can have a much larger impact on your results and your paycheck.


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Cesar Teague is an international Sales & Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Coach based in San Francisco. His focus is on helping entrepreneurs, business owners & executives catapult to the next level of results and performance.
Contact Cesar Teague at cesar@nextlevelup.org

For more information on Sales,Negotiation and Public Speaking/Presentation Skills Training and Coaching, go to => http://www.nextlevelup.org