Negotiation: Never Negotiate Alone
A lot of people think that sales is a lonely job. The image conjured up when we think of a sales person is of a person going from door to door alone peddling their wares.
The perpetuation of this concept is dangerous for the sales person as this leads to sales people feeling that they need to work without support from others. They create a bubble around themselves which is dangerous for their work as their attitude towards their tasks and their quality of work suffers from this.
The reality is that sales people are not supposed to work alone. They are in fact valuable team members responsible for the execution of the final steps in the whole reason for the existence of their company. The production, supply chain, finance, quality control and many other teams have worked together to ensure that the promises they make to the customer regarding the quality of the product, the delivery times, the price, are met.
So the sales person should never consider themselves to be alone and therefore should never negotiate alone either. Doing so will make them susceptible to make mistakes which will cost them and the company.
Before going into any negotiation with the customer, the sales person should involve their boss for guidelines and insights on how to approach the sale. Discuss all that can be offered and set limits for themselves. Discuss who they are meeting with and how the negotiation process with go along. Discuss how to pitch the product, which features and benefits to highlight. In short make sure that you have all the information you need to discuss with the customer and to make an offer.
If you have some information about the customer’s needs, you may want to set up a meeting with your production and supply chain teams as well. Discuss what aspects of the customer’s needs can be fulfilled with the resources available. What else will be required if the current resources are insufficient? How long will it take to mobilize resources? How can they support the sales person in meeting the customer’s needs.
Discuss any special requirements the customer has regarding payments with your finance team. They may have some policies and guidelines to follow which you may need to discuss with the customer. They may be able to make concessions in payments terms if the customer can present a justifiable cause.
Make sure someone from the team’s is available to take your call and answer any specific queries from the customer when you are in the negotiation with the customer. Sometimes questions crop up that you may not have anticipated or prepared for. It is better to have someone lined up who can answer those questions rather than leave the customer saying you will get back to them.
Involving your boss and your team members also means that you should take one of them along to the customer when you are in the final stages of the negotiation. This will allow you to work off each other and cover any aspects of the negotiation that may slip the other one’s mind. It will also allow for your efforts to show up in one to one interaction along with the report you file.
Teamwork is one of the most important aspects of selling and needs to be incorporated in the negotiation process in order to make more and better sales.