Negotiation Skills: 3 Simple Tips from Social Triggers

Watch this great video from social triggers. I will add some thoughts after it.

1. Take The Perspective Of The Person You Are Negotiating With.

I really love how he shows that this is not empathy. It isn't about feelings. Though feelings may come into their thought process. You need to put yourself in their shoes. What do they want? How can you provide that to them? Or how can you show it to them?

I know it is cliché to say you want it to be a win-win but that is really what this means. If you go into a negotiation like a battle you will lose. The last thing you want to do is be their enemy*.

*Note: if they want an enemy and want to "win" you can do this but you are "faking" it. You must never actually be the enemy. This is a more advanced sales concept that maybe I will post about one day if people would like to know more.

So how do we get to the win-win? First you need to remember that it is all about what is in it for them. You have to sell with questions and presentations that show them how your solution will work for them. If you sell about why you or your product is great you will fail.

Second you need to figure out their goal in the negotiation. Once you know what they want you can find a way so you both win. Or you can even walk away if each of your goals are not in sync. It's ok to walk away.

Third we need to put any offer in their terms. Once again it has to be about them and not you. If you want them to agree to your offer it has to be clear to them how it will benefit them.

2. Ask For More Than You Really Want.

When it comes to selling their are two schools of thought. First is the set price while the second is pricing a bit high so you can negotiate down.

This tip is best used by people who will negotiate their pricing. Remember to set your price higher so you can come down. You always want to set your prices too high and have to come down vs. too low.

"But Aaron.... what if I have set pricing?"

Here's how you can make use of this. It's what I call the "hold back". How this works is you keep part of the offer in reserve. So you can add it in.

Example: Let's say you offer an SEO service. Your package includes on site, link building, and Google Places optimization. You would not mention the Google Places till the end. If you close the deal easy you mention the added benefit after they pay and sign. if they want to negotiate you bring it up during the negotiation. "How about if I add Google Places optimization to the deal? Let me explain how this would benefit you....."

I'm sure you can see how to do this with any package you offer. The "hold back" benefit is an old school sales trick for closing. Sometimes you will add it as a "bonus" and others you might say something like "You know what? I forgot to mention blank"

The key is you are staying firm on price but increasing the value in their eyes.

3. Never Take Responsibility For The "No".

I think a lot of times people here never really understood why I told them to never be the boss, the president, or the owner. You got into business for yourself to be the big shot, right? Wrong you got into business to make money so lose those titles.

The thing is when selling you don't want to be the big shot. You don't want to be the final decision maker. You want to be seen almost neutral. That you are trying to bring the two sides together. That way you can put any negative feelings they have off onto the boss, the owner, etc.

This ties into that not becoming the enemy thing from before. In negotiations often there will be an enemy in their eyes. Often subconsciously of course but it is there. By putting yourself in a position as their advocate with your company you can help build a situation where they feel they "won".

Selling over the years even when I was the manager I would always blame something other than myself. But there is a caveat to this. You have to make sure you don't come off as if you are not taking responsibility or not willing to help.

A great tip for this is to always lead from the "no" into what you can do. Example: "It appears this computer is no longer under warranty. Would you like us to repair it for you still? It appears the cost would be $200 but due to this situation I could give you 25% off the repair. Would that work for you?"

Remember never say you can do nothing even if you really can't do anything. Offer some kind of solution even if it is just rephrasing what you told them you could do before. Example: "I understand that you are upset that this computer is no longer under warranty. We really want to help make this right. We could do the repair for $150, a savings of $50 off the normal price of $200. Will you let us make this right for you?"

A Few Final Thoughts.

Remember not every situation can be a win-win. And not every negotiation will lead to a deal. That is ok. The key is that you make sure you do everything in your power and skill set to close as many deals as possible.

Also the better you do before the close the less negotiation you will have to do at the close. "Always Be Closing" sounds great but the key to closing deals is well before the close. So for me I would rather "Never Be Closing". I want the close to be so natural that my prospect never even notices.

There is a magically moment when you know the sale is done and asking for it isn't a close so much as an expectation and even a pleasure. I know many call this an "assumption close" but when done right there is no assumption behind it. To me the assumption close is a different beast though similar in nature.

So take more time selling the right way. Tip 1 works well for the whole selling process. If it is always about them and never about you hopefully you will never need to negotiate and you will never need to "close" in the traditional sense.