Getting the right sales negotiations training is vital for sales reps to stay ahead of the game and win more deals. The skills you’ll learn can also help you build better relationships with clients.
Sales negotiation techniques can save your team time and money. This training helps them recognize buyer tactics, hone their skills, and avoid costly pitfalls that can end up costing you more in the long run.
Know Your Limits
Knowing your limits is an important sales negotiation skill. Having an idea of what you can realistically offer in terms of freebies, discounts, and concessions can help prevent you from conceding to price objections or deals that don’t meet your bottom line.
This also helps you identify when it’s time to walk away. If the prospect keeps asking for things that you can’t reasonably deliver on, it’s best to gracefully bow out of the negotiations and pursue alternatives instead.
One of the most important sales negotiation skills involves conducting extensive research before you meet with your prospect. You’ll want to understand their pain points and their business goals so that you can develop a solution to address them.
Keep Your Cool
One of the most important skills you can develop to succeed in sales negotiations is composure. Losing your cool can turn off prospects and make it difficult to build a long-term relationship with them.
In a recent KARRASS webinar, Chris Voss, former FBI negotiator and author of Negotiate Wisely in Business & Technology, offered advice on how to keep your cool during negotiations.
He recommends listening carefully to what your counterpart has to say before making a concession.
This can be a particularly tricky skill to master, as the emotional quotient often outweighs the logic in a negotiation. But if you master it, it can help you achieve partial successes and increase your chances of winning a deal.
Ask Questions
Asking questions is an important skill for salespeople to learn, as it helps them gather information and understand the needs of their prospect. However, many people are hesitant to ask questions in sales negotiations because they fear rejection or being perceived as pushy.
In addition to asking questions, it is also important to remain calm and empathetic during the negotiation process. Keeping the discussion light and jovial helps diffuse tension and build trust between you and your prospect.
Be a Problem-Solver
Problem-solving is a key skill in sales negotiations. Whether it’s an issue with your product, a customer, or something else, you need to be able to figure out a way to fix it.
The best problem-solvers use logic to identify the problem, evaluate solutions, and design an effective solution. They also assess whether the strategy worked and adjust it accordingly.
Our negotiating training program helps sales professionals strengthen their ability to apply a consultative, client-focused approach. Designed in an exercise-based, highly interactive format, this sales negotiation course yields results that can be put to use immediately.
Build Trust
In sales negotiations, gaining trust is a fundamental part of the process. Without it, the other party will be less likely to make concessions or agree to terms that are not in their best interest.
When negotiating, you can build trust with a customer by empathizing, questioning, and giving them good advice. The more they trust you, the more they will follow your advice.
Similarly, when dealing with a problem or concern that is causing a customer to be angry or upset, listen and empathize. The more they feel that you care about them, the more they will want to work with you in the future.
During this economic downturn, it’s especially important to focus on building trust with customers. A customer who feels you are genuinely interested in them is more likely to invest their time and money with you, which will be beneficial to both parties.
