Sales Training Advice: Obtaining What You Need From Your Sales Meetings Through Efficient Negotiation Skills
In Sales training programmes, negotiation skills are often missed altogether. You could say that the underlying reason most of us feel the need to negotiate with anyone else is so that we can find a way to get what we need. Being human, we all believe that our point of view is very important and that others should at least consider seeing things our way. If you had no wants or needs, there would be little reason for you to negotiate with anyone.
If sales courses don't always teach influencing skills, how then can you convince other people to favourably consider your propositions?
Believe it or not, there is a science supported by more than 60 years of research that has informed our understanding of the use of influence to satisfy our needs and desires in sales negotiation. The world's foremost expert on the science of persuasion, Dr Robert Cialdini, has identified 6 principles of persuasive communication in his research work:
Reciprocation
Liking
Commitment & Consistency
Authority
Scarcity
Social Proof
Whilst influence will always be somewhat of an art, it is incredibly helpful to use the power of the 6 principles discovered by scientific investigation to optimise your chances of persuading others to give you what you really want.
Let's start by examining at what I believe to be the most important principle from a negotiation viewpoint - reciprocation.
Reciprocation means that we return to others the same behaviour that they exhibit towards us. If you have done me a favour, then I should help you. If you invite me to your birthday party, then I should invite you to my birthday party. If you make a concession to me, then I should make a concession to you.
So what does this mean to you and how can you use it to get what you would like?
Here's how:
Make sure that when you negotiate you ask for a little more than you would like to receive.
Let's say you are selling a widget and you need to obtain $ 100 for the widget.
If you want to use the principle of reciprocation, then you should start by asking for a little more - let's say by asking for $ 105.
If your counterparty does not agree to paying you $ 105 for the widget, then you can extend a concession by discounting your required price to $ 100 in return for your counterparty also making a concession to you. A concession that your counterparty could make in this case could be to pay you cash on the spot or to take care of shipping etc.
The key is for you to make the concession - don't wait for your counterparty to make a concession. Just make sure that you use the word 'if' when you make your concession:
"If you are prepared to pay me in cash right now, then I will reduce the price from $ 105 to $ 100". This way you give an indication to your counterparty that you are willing to be flexible and you will now significantly enhance the likeliness of them also being flexible and offering a concession in return.
Just be sure to use this principle 'in the moment' whilst you are negotiating. If you walked away from a negotiation to review your proposal, your counterparty will be more likely to regard your amended offer as a new proposal, not as a concession.