Negotiation Tips

Great thought. Thanks for posting.

I think for positioning this is the way to go. You can offer discounts and such to get business but the price is the price. At least among American this works well. In some cultures where haggling is important it wouldn't work as well. But here I would suggest it myself for many businesses.

Americans are used to paying the price listed with a few exceptions like cars and houses. But even with cars some brands basically have one price and that is that. Outside of a few small things like those everything else in America has one price and you buy it for that price if you want it.

That seems a little extreme. I think negotiation is a fundamental part of healthy human relations. No one can ever get everything they want. Nor should they expect to.

Btw, that doesn't mean you should negotiate your prices in business.

It's possible, yes, though you have other options to seal these deals.

Of course I'm assuming your prospective clients are sold on the idea. Because it's not the price that's going to sell them on the idea.

So for example, if they say they can't afford the 8500, try offering a payment plan to see if they mean they truly can't swing it or just can't do it all at once.

Another thing would be a mini something service at about 4000 that gets their feet wet and gets them a measurable bump in business and which ties in and can lead to you doing a $4000 upgrade (or better) down the road. In other words the strategy is, get the client first, sell them later. It's the concept of customer acquisition is first priority instead of attempting to sell your top ticket items out of the gate because once you have the customer you can keep selling to them. Once they've made the purchase they're more likely to buy from you and buy bigger. So do what's needed to acquire a new customer.

A couple things I have learned in the real world.

For certain people the only thing that matters is the budget. So if you don't offer an option under their budget you won't even have a shot at upselling.

Many business owners and managers simply don't care about ROI. Yes it would be in their interest to pay attention to it but most don't. Selling ROI may be great and if you can help show it to them it will help with your 2nd and 3rd sale to the company. But on the first one if you ignore the budget they simply will not hire you.

They don't know you from Adam. They are not used to using ROI and likely never even have thought about it beyond the way TV and Newspapers BS it. So coming out and telling them why they should so a minimum of $8,500 or nearly their budget will not work. Now offering the $8,500 option is fine but one if not two of the options should be lower than their budget.

The best way to sell them on the right product that costs more is to show them the one that meets their budget but not there needs. Don't show them that one and you will never make the sale.

You should always offer them the correct product for their needs even if it is too much. In fact if you are sneaky you can build value into it is to hold it back like this.

"Now that I have shown you a few options here which did you like best?"
(If a more expensive option would be better they should choose the most expense under budget or one you showed just above budget).
"Is there anything you wish was part of it that I did not have included"
(They will list their desires, not the must haves but things you already spoke about that they had on their wish list)
"When I was making up these proposals I actually made on that included everything on your wishlist. I knew budget was important so I put it off to the side and focused on these. (point to 3 you presented) And this one (likely the one they picked) is already a bit over the budget. So I knew it was best not even to bring it up."
(they will likely ask to see it)
"Oh I feel really bad now. I shouldn't have brought it up. It was just a draft. Nothing formatted like this. Just did it on a yellow note pad. Not even sure I brought it with. (fumble in your brief case) Ok here I found it. This I estimated to be about $8,500 worth of work. It had everything we spoke about and a few extras that in my experience will help get even more sales (or leads) for you."
(lead them through it and what it has vs. the say $5,000 they like best)
"I figured something like this I would bring up as an upgrade next year after you saw what the ones in your budget would do for you."
(go to pull it away, they should stop you)
"Oh.. Did you want to keep this for next year so you know what I will present as an upgrade then?"
(likely will show interest in this today and be talking about how to make it happen. At this point you could make some other add on suggestions.)

Now I haven't done this method myself with websites. But I have done it with RVs, Appliances, and other large ticket purchases like that. It's basically what I call "The Keep Away Method".

You know that what they want to pay will not get them what they want. So during your presentations you focus on the good but also are very honest about what it doesn't have. Thus they will pick the one slightly above budget since you have set it up as the best "compromise" and a little over is no big deal.

Now you actually talk about the one(s) that would fit all their needs and how you wish you could have shown them. But you're not that kind of sales person. You're not the type that tries to get people to spend more by showing them the best from the start and then trashing all the other options. You know the ______ will work great for them.

They will ask to see the more expensive one(s). Once they want to it is open season. If they were sure they couldn't afford it they would show hesitation. But those who think they just might be able to afford it will want to see the "forbidden fruit" You kept it away and likely hinted at it. Maybe you even walked by it on the floor and said how you wish they had the budget for that.

But you never let them truly see it. Even if they looked at it you only answered basic questions while leading them back to the ones that would fit the budget.

That my friends is how you get a customer to beg you to take them out of their budget. I always appreciate when a salesman uses this and similar methods on me. It shows he respects my budget but also cares about getting me the best value. And the best value often costs more.

If you show nothing but most expensive options they will think it is about what is in it for you not them.