1. Seek information. There is a rule of thumb in negotiation: The best prepared party gets the biggest piece of the pie. Dig out the facts. Do your homework. Find out all that you can about the other party from independent sources such as, their problems, needs,Cheap Arthur Moats Jersey, interest, goals. Your awareness of these issues helps you to create acceptable solutions. This will help make them more receptive to your ideas and gives you the advantage. 3. Reinforce continually. Reinforcement builds the type of confidence you want in your customer. One way is to ask questions which require a "yes" to your questions. 2. Cost-benefit ratio. The prospects buying decision will be based on perceived value in relation to price. Values or benefits are not in the product but in the prospects mind. The salesperson has little control over price, but does have control over presenting the prospect with enough reasons to buy. 5. Pre-empting price. If your price seems high, you can soften its effect by pre-empting it. That is, you bring up the subject as a benefit and justify it before the prospect complains about it. In that way any objections to price are minimized. Handling customer complaints. Comparison of price, value and quality in the business world is the name of the game. Yet even after a rigorous price comparison, price will rarely be the dominant factor. When you sell value - your best combination of quality, service and price - you will have a far happier customer than when you sell price alone. BACK TO BASICS Quite often the salesperson must assume the role of "negotiator" to close a sale. You've found the right prospect and developed a strong interest in your product or service, but the terms of the deal are now under fire. Although you may not be able to change prices or delivery schedules, it is important to remember one thing: The negotiator's job is not to do the impossible, but to make the possible probable. To be effective, you must understand and apply the key principles of negotiating. Even so, there is no guarantee of success. But, not having a grasp of negotiating is almost a sure guarantee of failure. Unless you are UN expert in negotiating practices, you stand a much lower chance to get what you want. 3 Put a picture of something that you want to purchase on your refrigerator so that you see it every morning. But don't forget to reward yourself for short-term accomplishments. 1. Know that change is inevitable and it is often good and healthy. 2. Participate in change. Be eager to make a difference. Don't react from necessity. React by thinking, planning, and taking action. 3. Believe strongly that you can make a difference. 1. The prospect is always asking, "Whats in it for me?" The answer to this in not features but rather benefits and reasons to buy. Rarely is any one feature worth the price, but it is possible that one benefit is worth the price. 1. Arguing creates defensiveness from your clients. Ignore the customer's style of delivery and personality. Don't let that distract you from listening to what is being said. Handle the problem with a calm and rational behavior. Handling the Sales Lows: Remember that you need to present the valve of the equipment to the man who signs the check. If you are relying for his second in command to sell the values to the one who writes the check for you, you are sadly mistaken. 2. Negotiation involves seeking information so as to understand the customer's situation and needs. It requires a cool and thoughtful approach. And it needs to have the customer feel a "win". That is, that he or she is better off dealing with you than not dealing with you. "Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there". Every salesperson has experienced highs and lows, peaks and valleys. The trick is to minimize the lows, continue to work, and take advantage of the highs. Motivate means to move and take action, so sitting and worrying is the worst possible thing you can do. Anything that produces activity is the answer. Here are three ways to get "on track": 6. Don't lose your composure. Because price is the sixth most important factor in selecting a product, you should not lose composure when the prospect starts pressuring, it may be a defense mechanism, a self-stroking to show knowledge about your product, bargaining, exercising buying restraint, or whatever. Or the prospect may be seeking help in justifying the purchase, that is, a buying signal meaning, "I like it, but help me find more reasons for buying it". Price alone makes salespeople vulnerable. Understanding that salespeople who sell price alone are vulnerable to losing the account when someone comes along with a better quality or service. 1 When you lose momentum,Cheap Jim Kelly Jersey, you usually can trace it to the fact you have not set clear goals or your goals are so large and long-range you tend to go off-track and lose faith in your ability to achieve them. Re-evaluate your goals and break them down, so that you can create short-term rewards and a feeling of accomplishment. 3. Buying is an emotional process. The emotional involvements run the gamut from prospects wanting the item so badly they will do almost anything to get it, to analytical purchasing agents wanting the recognition from their peers for low-cost, high-quality purchases. The strongest emotions often are based on past negative experiences involving service or quality. Ask questions to find out your prospects past dissatisfaction with service or quality and show how you will do better. Hear it out, listen. Getting the complaint out in the open relieves the distress of ill feelings clients may have. The more they talk,Cheap Fred Taylor Jersey, the more you will learn about their concerns and how to deal with it if you listen to the customer. He is telling you how to fix it. Avoid the argument; the complaint may be groundless, but don't make an issue of it. Complaints are not resolved to mutual satisfaction in a controversial climate. Avoid meaningless excuses. These do nothing to resolve the situation. If the complaint is valid - fix it - with no alibis. Assure the customer you will get the facts and do your best to resolve the matter to his satisfaction. Don't let complaints linger. The longer they remain unresolved, the more they become a source of friction and are apt to become serious. Keys to Negotiating Excellence 4. Justify the price. The price can be higher than the competition as long as the prospect feels it is justified in terms of the values and the benefits offered. The best way to justify the price is with more benefits. In the end the price has to be sold, or justified, with the benefit of the product or service you offered. Price is never the dominant factor. Three Ways To Think About Change: Remember these valuable points in negotiation. Often price is more of a problem in the salesperson's mind than the prospects. Top sales professionals have learned that most customers start out price-conscious but end up becoming value-conscious. Understand that value is the emotional combination of price, quality, benefits and service. The objective is to influence customers as to why they are better off with the benefits and the values your company offers. If I were to ask you how price ranks in the customers mind when considering a sale, what would you say? First? Second? Try again. Surveys have shown that both private business as well as government officials rank price only as the sixth-most important consideration. In today's competitive world, a price objection is the quickest way for a prospect to get rid of a salesperson. Yet top sales professionals are seldom the ones with the lowest price. Why? Value vs. Price. It matters not if you are selling tiddlywinks or imported Italian cranes that are 30% higher in price than the closest American made crane, every price is too high until the prospect is emotionally involved. 2 Send out mailers that require you to call on so many people each week. Use a number like 40-50 commercial contacts a week and follow up by phone. Cold calling is not required. Use information age technology to generate leads. The pay-off - a satisfied customer Six Ways To Get The High Price: 1. Create benefits rather than compete with prices. 2. Protect a price resisters ego with no-price extras or service. 3. Sell visions and ideas, not just products or service. 4. Create visual images of the prospect enjoying your product. 5. Reduce a price difference to the lowest unit possible. 6. Train yourself to sell value - not price. Value, again, is the combination of price, benefits, quality, and service. Here are the strategies I use to lessen the influence of price on a sales decision. 2. Rehearse. Anticipate as many predictable responses, obstacles and objections as possible and prepare your responses in advance. Thomas Edison once said "genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration". Preparation and rehearsal is the perspiration of negotiation genius.