Taking Control of the Negotiation

Can effective sales negotiation training put you in a position to take control of the negotiation?

The results of our exhaustive sales negotiation study of Fortune 500 firms in multiple industries over 3 years in 19 countries showed that, the answer is Yes!

We learned that you can anticipate that as much as 97% of your buyer’s sales negotiation tactics will focus either on their alternative (usually your nearest competitor) or price (a discount or free service/product).

The good news - preparation for a sales negotiation instantly becomes simpler. It also means that sales negotiation training can help you to gather the right data on the negotiation before the actual event. It’s called “fire prevention.” This way you don’t react to your customer’s demands but take proactive control of your sales negotiation outcome.

Data puts you in a position to effectively, credibly and professionally handle the tactics used by buyers the world over.

Sales Negotiation Tactics are Predictable

Sales negotiation is tricky, with many twists and turns. Do you catch yourself wishing you’d had more sales negotiation training? Or that you could have predicted which verbal tactics the team on the other side would follow?

We wanted to determine if there was a pattern to sales negotiations. In a study in 19 countries that took over 3 years and involved Fortune 500 firms from many industries, we collected a list of the “most difficult” and “most common” verbal negotiation tactics. Guess what! The pattern of the buyers’ verbal tactics was consistent 97% of the time.

Buyers generally follow 2 options:

1. The Alternative (comparing your product/service to the alternative, most often your nearest competitor) and
2. The Price (asking for either a discount or a free service or product)

Sales negotiation training can now prepare you to anticipate not hundreds but only two general strategies.

Sales Coaching and Its Impact on Revenue

A sales manager wears many hats as a team leader but, ultimately, success as a sales leader will be measured by the team’s revenue. Does wearing a hat as sales coach make enough of a difference in the bottom line revenue to warrant his investment in the time and effort? Our study of 121 professionals at a major North American financial services firm show that not only does sales coaching make a significant difference but that sales coaching could as much as double your revenue.

Each participant was asked for one example of how “coaching conversations with your manager have made a significant difference in a sales situation.” These were verified to include the situation, specific coaching, and results over the last three months. The Coached Group created 2x more new revenue (from $4,412,000 from the un-coached control group to $9,387,000 from the group who received sales coaching over the same time period).

The Link Between Sales Negotiation & Customer Loyalty

In a recent sales negotiation quarterly poll, a large % of respondents stated that "ensuring the best customer loyalty and satisfaction" was keeping them up at night.

A 5% increase in customer service loyalty can boost profits by as much as 25% to 85%. Research has shown that satisfied clients lead to greater profitability and growth.

Read more about some of the best sales negotiation training programs, practices and make the link between industry leading business sales and service...

Search for the Right Sales Negotiation Training Resource. Right Now.

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Step 1 - Locate the Search Tool to the right of this post

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See illustration below. Enjoy.

Sales Negotiation Research Study Results

Over the course of the past 12 months, we conducted an online research study where visitors to our website were anonymously surveyed across an area of topics related driving sales performance through investments in human capital. In particular, one such survey asked respondents the following question:

What Sales Negotiation Issues Are Keeping You Awake at Night?

From a list of predefined responses, here are the results for your viewing pleasure.

1. Getting new clients--43%
2. Expanding current clients--22%
3. Increasing margins--13%
4. Selling bigger deals-19%
5. Other--3%

How would you answer the above question regarding sales negotiation, sales coaching best practices sales training best practices in general?

Sales Negotiation Best Practice Resources

From time to time, we like to provide visitors and subscribers to this blog with a refresher on where they can find helpful resources devoted to best practices in the area of Sales Negotiation and Influence Performance, and related areas.

We hope you find these resources insightful and relevant:

• Sales Training and Coaching Best Practices
• Inside Sales Training and Coaching Best Practices
• Solution selling training programs
• Strategic Account Planning Solutions
• Sales Territory Management Best Practices
• Value Selling Training Best Practices
• Consultative Selling Training Best Practices
• Sales Coaching Solutions
• Sales Presentation and Sales Communication Solutions

Enjoy!