In any negotiation you need to know when to walk and then you need to stick to this. If you can do this with conviction you will have power otherwise your counterpart will smell weakness and it’s a slippery slope.
True story – we had a deal with a prospect a couple of years back and at the 11th hour the discussions stalled. Whenever talks stall it usually means there are issues…well, sure enough the prospect was shopping the deal before committing. I don’t know about you, but when you have a deal, you have a deal and I will walk on principle. I gave this prospect 24 hours to make a decision and they didn’t like the stance so the deal fell apart.
Guess what? 2 years later, they came back and subscribed. Negotiating is not caving and getting what you can get. Negotiating is an even exchange of value. If it’s not there, you have to walk or decide to lower your price. Don’t lower your price or you kill your value.
Negotiate with strength and you will win more at higher prices – guaranteed.
Brick
brick – have been thinking about a few of your posts and reading “how successful people think.” Just finished chapter 3 and was trying to think of some good questions to get stalled negotiations moving/deals closed – i came up with these and curious to hear your thoughts on them. thanks
1 – What happens if you don’t buy? Best case scenario/worst case?
2 – What is the worst case scenario if you do buy?
3 – How is your current process different/superior/inferior to what we are proposing?
4 – What would you like to change in your business and how do you want to do that?
5 – ref #4 What is the easiest/most efficient way to achieve change/growth and what is the hardest/least efficient?
6 – If you didn’t go with our solution how would you fix your problem? Is your problem important enough that it must be fixed whether you go with us or not?
Nathan – I think these are all fine questions. I think the goal is to ask questions that will force a pause…and for the prospect to perhaps think differently. Deals stall for hidden reasons and you have to uncover the true objections to break the stall. Great questions will help. Don’t be afraid to put your prospect on the spot so they have to really take stock and get real. I have always found one of the biggest fears is making a bad decision, not necessarily the best decision so you mught ask questions that will get to any fear. Have you tried that? Keep digging in an intelligent way and build a relationship and everything should unfold for you.