Negotiation Ploys that Will Put You Ahead

Face it: all sales reps have to negotiate. Whether they’re simply hammering out a price agreement or negotiating all the complexities of a multimillion dollar deal, they need to know the strategies that can help them get the best deal for your company. In their book, Red-Hot Sales Negotiations (AMACOM, 2007), Paul Goldner and Peter McKeon offer the following “ploys and tactics” your reps can use to gain leverage in their negotiations:

Authority Limits. As a salesperson, never put yourself in the position of being the ultimate decision maker. You always want to be able to say, “That sounds like a really good idea. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to bounce it off my boss since it’s out of my authority limit.” That gives you time to consider your options and then go back and say, “My boss can’t support X, but here’s what he can support.”

Straw Man. Enter every negotiation with a list of negotiating points, including several items of little importance to you. That way, during the back-and-forth negotiating process, you’ve got items you can give up as concessions without the buyer knowing they aren’t of great value to you. “If the other side wants more concessions and you don’t want to lower the price, you want to be prepared with something you can give up that has significant value to them but doesn’t cost you much,” say the authors.

Irritant Factor. This is similar to the Straw Man strategy, except that you introduce a factor that causes great inconvenience to the buyer. It’s a great way to reduce or eliminate an aggressive demand by the buyer. For instance, if your standard implementation is seven weeks and the buyer wants it done in three, you could respond with, “We might be able to get it down to four weeks, but even then that would only be possible if you provide us with five marketing people dedicated full time to the project and a dedicated office with a computer and high-speed Internet connection.”

Nibbles. If the negotiation has gone relatively smoothly, it can be useful to ask for one more “small, non-contentious concession in return for your agreement,” say Goldner and McKeon. The reason: if you agree too quickly to the deal, the buyer may second-guess the agreement, wondering if he could have negotiated a better deal. By getting one more concession when you’re close to finalizing the deal, you not only improve the deal, you “avoid giving the impression that you were overanxious to settle.”

Delay Negotiations. If the buyer makes the first proposal – say, if your list price is $99 per unit and he starts by offering $40 – don’t start negotiating immediately. Try to find out why they’ve made that proposal. “Behind every proposal lurks a need,” say Goldner and McKeon. “It is your job to attempt to understand that need. There may be other proposals which also address that need, but at less cost to you.”

Open Door. Try not to close any doors during negotiations. If you’re suddenly faced with having to say yes and give a major concession, or say no and deadlocking the negotiations, instead counter with, “Just suppose…” or, “What if…” or, “Let’s say for the sake of argument….” This allows you to explore other alternatives without committing to them and without closing that original door.