Sales stuck in Negotiation? Is it winning the deal or relationship?Learn the Steps to Negotiate. Learn Negotiation Strategies and Communication Styles.

1. NEGOTIATION
SKILLS

2. Objectives
 Determine the importance of negotiation in the
sales process
 Identify key steps to take at every point in the
negotiation process
 Determine how to use various negotiation
strategies to achieve results
 Use effective communication to achieve good
negotiation outcomes.

3.  What is Negotiation?
 Negotiating with Prospects and
Customers
 Negotiation Strategies
 Communication Skills
Content

4. What is
Negotiation?

5. Simply put...
the process of getting what
you want from another person.
What is
Negotiation?

6. The truth is we negotiate every day, everyone in
their every day lives is a negotiator.
Children negotiate with their parents for things
they want.
Spouses negotiate with each other over things they
should buy or do this weekend eg. go to the funeral, the
wedding or take the children to their friend’s party?
Subordinates negotiate with their bosses over
deadlines.
Workers negotiate with their clients over services they
can offer them.

7. Why Negotiate
Negotiations occur for several reasons:
 To convince people to take your side of an
issue
 To agree on how to share or divide a limited
resource
 To resolve a problem or dispute between the
parties
 To sell a product or service

8. Sales Negotiation
 Sales negotiation can be a formal event at a specific
time and date or it can be ongoing at different points in the
sales process.
 As a sales staff you are seeking a mutually beneficial
relationship with your prospects and clients, not something
that benefits only you or them.
Why do you
need to
negotiate with
customers in
the first place?

9. because of
Customer Attitudes
 A customer’s attitude toward your product or service
generally falls into one of four categories.....
Objection
Indifference
Skepticism
Acceptance

10. Customer Attitudes
Acceptance :
Customer
agrees with
your benefits
and has no
negative
feelings toward
your product
Skepticism :
Customer is
interested in a
particular
benefit, but
doubts
whether your
product can
really provide
the benefit
Objection :
Customer
displays
opposition to
your product
Indifference:
Customer
shows a lack
of interest in
your product
because of no
perceived
need for its
benefits

11. S0 why do you need negotiation skills?...
 To be able to change customer attitudes towards
your products and services;
 Bottom line
• ....... To win more Customers and improve
profits for your organisation.

12. Negotiating with
Prospects & Customers

13.  Negotiation with prospects and customers must be
undertaken within the context of the sales process.
 Where inadequate prospecting, pre sales preparation and
planning is done, negotiation is likely to be unsuccessful.
So what does the sales process entail?
Negotiating with
Prospects & Customers

14. Overview of the
Sales Process
1. Prospecting and qualifying
2. Planning the sales call: The pre approach
3. Approaching the prospect
4. Sales presentation and demonstration
5. Negotiating resistance and objections
6. Confirming and closing the sale
7. Following up and providing after sales service

15.  Negotiation with the prospect usually begins after you have
had the opportunity to present your products and services
or after step 4 in the sales process.
 At this point, you will be able to gauge whether the
prospect
 objects
 is indifferent
 is skeptical or
 accepts your product or service
 Based on your assessment of the situation, you can then
begin to negotiate.
Overview of the
Sales Process

16.  Avoid negotiating unless you have
had an opportunity to fully present
your products and services
 Understand the objections raised
by your prospect and identify what
your prospect or customer’s main
points of interest may be based on
these objections
 Be prepared to illustrate how your
offering will benefit them and
quantify the value they will get (if
possible)
 Be prepared to be patient (which
can lead to higher trust between
you and your prospect)
 Be confident in the value your
product or service will provide your
prospect
 Be prepared to work toward a
solution that works for both you
and your prospect
 Know in advance at what point the
negotiation is no longer beneficial
to you and your organisation and
be prepared to walk away
Before negotiation begins...
Negotiating with
Prospects & Customers

17.  Use open ended questions to
confirm your understanding of their
needs.
 Be prepared for tactical responses
from prospects and customers –
such as exclamations after you
explain the terms of your service
(eh, aba! etc) or silence – don’t
react and instead respond with
more questions
 Don’t rush to fill pauses with more
talk – be comfortable with
moments of silence
 Listen
 Be prepared to make slight
adjustments for your prospect if
possible eg. Adjust the
product/service offering, loan
payment terms etc.
 Try to identify small things you
have both agreed on to help
develop positive momentum –
summarize these agreements
periodically
During negotiation...
Negotiating with
Prospects & Customers

18.  If you are able to make a sale…
 Summarize verbally and/or in writing
the details of what you and the
customer have agreed on as the
terms of the service.
 Thank the customer/ prospect for
their time and reinforce the
purchase decision
 For your next negotiation, review the
points that seemed to help move the
negotiation process forward – study
them, know them, use them
 If you did not make a sale…
 Sincerely thank the prospect for
their time
 Avoid appearing annoyed or
disappointed
 Give the prospect an “out” or an
opening for them to come back to
you/your organisation in the future
(have this statement prepared)
 For your next negotiation, review the
points that seemed to prevent the
negotiation process from moving
forward – study them, know them,
and act accordingly
After the negotiation...
Negotiating with
Prospects & Customers

19. Handling
Objections and Resistance
 Objections can be defined as statements, questions, or
actions by the prospect that indicate resistance or an
unwillingness to buy . . . at least yet
 Without sales resistance, there wouldn't be any need for
salespeople
 The first person who reached the prospect would make
the sale
 Serious negotiations seldom begin until the prospect's
objections surface

20.  Prospects and customers raise objections for a
myriad of reasons
• Some people will almost always raise objections, even if
they really need the product/service
• They may be people who naturally raise objections as a
matter of buying technique or negotiation strategy
• The prospect may seek reassurance that the
product/service will perform or yield the benefits promised
• A few prospects will raise objections merely to irritate you
the salesperson
Handling
Objections and Resistance

21. • Some prospects raise objections so that they can bargain
for a better deal. Irrespective of how good your terms
may be compared to the competition, some prospects are
obsessed with getting an even better deal so that they
can feel “victorious.”
• Prospects may raise an objection because they have a
bias against the your organization or type of service or, in
rare cases, simply dislike you the salesperson.
Handling
Objections and Resistance

22.  Identifying and negotiating the prospect's most important or
key objection is the first step to negotiating total prospect
resistance.
 One subtle way is by engaging the prospect in informal
conversation before the sales presentation and
encouraging him or her to reveal personal concerns and
perspectives on problems
Which other ways
can you think of?
Handling
Objections and Resistance

23. Negotiation Outcomes
PROSPECT
SALESPERSON
Win Lose
Win Both the prospect and the sales
person are satisfied with the terms
of the sale and a good business
relationship develops
The salesperson is satisfied with
the sale but the prospect is not.
He may even feel manipulated
or taken advantage of. The
business relationship is in
trouble
Lose The prospect is satisfied with the
sale but the sales person feels
manipulated and may reciprocate in
future negotiations or reduce
customer service. The business
relationship is in trouble.
Both parties are dissatisfied with
the sale thus the bond of trust
between them may be so
damaged that they are unlikely
to enter into any future business
relationship.

24. Common Mistakes to be avoided
in
Negotiation

25.  Inadequate preparation
 Use of intimidating behavior
 Impatience
 Loss of temper
 Talking too much, listening too little, and
remaining indifferent to body language.
Arguing instead of influencing.

26. Negotiation
Strategies

27. Negotiation
 There are various well tested strategies that can be used to
achieve a win-win outcome, such as those used by Akosua
and Ebo as outlined in this section.
 Akosua and Ebo decide to visit a well known business
area to win new clients for their institution.
 Their first stop is an office located in the area with a lot of
staff who are ideal potential clients. Akosua and Ebo
intend to introduce their services to them, get them to be
interested in the services to the point where they will
actually sign on for a service such as open an account
and/or take a loan.
Strategies

28. Strategy Approach
Vinegar – Honey
Start with the cheapest possible
product or service but one which
still has benefits for the prospect.
Akosua approaches one of her
prospects and informs him that he
can access a loan with very little
effort – she goes ahead to explain
the procedure for obtaining a loan
from her organization.
Practice with the
cheapest
product/service
on your listing.
Negotiation
Strategies

29. Strategy Approach
Pinpoint the need
Focus on the need ie. Why a loan
will be beneficial to the prospect
and enumerate the benefits s/he
would derive from the loan.
Akosua’s prospect appears
skeptical about the process and
indicates so, stressing that he
knew people who had been made
similar promises but went through
a lot of stress to obtain loans.
She ignores his comment and
begins to highlight the benefits to
be derived from such a loan.
Negotiation
Strategies

30. Strategy Approach
Challenge
The prospect throws a challenge at
Akosua in an effort to win some
concessions.
The prospect goes quiet for a while
then tells Akosua that he needs a
loan of GHC 5,000 but wants to be
able to negotiate the terms of
payment because he knows two
people from his office who got a
similar deal.
Negotiation
Strategies

31. Strategy Approach
Limited Authority
Limited authority is an attempt to
postpone the decision on a pretext
to get approval from a competent
authority. Whereas the real aim is
to gain time for reconsideration,
and/or keeping the prospect still
interested in the service for a
reasonable period of time until a
win-win situation is achieved.
Akosua says, ‘those two people
you are referring to took huge
loans and so were given the
opportunity to negotiate their terms
of payment’ . But she indicates that
she will speak to her boss about it.
Negotiation
Strategies

32. Strategy Approach
Good Guy/Bad Guy
The good guy / bad guy is an
internationally used strategy. One
member of a team takes a hard line
approach while other member is
friendly and easy to deal with.
When bad guy steps out for a few
minutes, the good guy offers the
deal that under the circumstances
seems too good to refuse. Bad
guys usually comprise spouses,
lawyers etc.
Based on your
experience on the
field, how would
you act out the
good guy/bad guy
strategy to your
favour?
Negotiation
Strategies

33. Strategy Approach
Defer
Deferring strategy allows the
negotiators time to reevaluate their
positions. Deferring a decision
often proves that patience pays.
Please excuse us while we discuss
ways in which we might provide
you a better offer. Would you
please reevaluate your position
too?
Negotiation
Strategies

34. Keep It Light
 You never want to let negotiations become too tense. Always
feel free to smile and inject some humour in the conversation.
 Lightening up the mood can ingratiate you with your prospect
while also conveying your negotiating strength.
 If you do not appear to be taking the negotiation as a do or die
affair, your prospect may conclude that you are ready to move
on if s/he does not cooperate and based on that s/he may
decide to be cooperative.
Negotiation
Strategies

35. Communication
Skills

36. Communication Skills
 Communication skills are crucial in the kind of
negotiations you engage in as field staff. Good
communication is the cornerstone of any productive
negotiation. Particularly important are
 Oral communication and
 Non-verbal communication
 It is also important that as field staff you are aware of
critical cultural norms that exist within your area of
operations.

37.  Oral communication implies communication through the
mouth. It not only refers to speaking but includes the ability
to listen as well.
 Specific examples of oral communication include:
 Face to face communication in conversation, be it direct or
telephone conversation, meetings, interviews, speeches,
presentations, discussions etc.
 Oral communication is significant in building rapport and
trust with customers.
Oral Communication

38.  When communicating with your prospects and customers
 Slow down your speech and pronounce your words clearly and
correctly.
 Vary your pitch, tone and volume to emphasize key words or
sentences.
 Adjust the volume of your voice to your audience
 speak softly but audibly when you are talking one-on-one
 speak louder when you are talking to a larger group or across a
room
 Be conscious of your speech to avoid filler words such as um, uh, ah,
like, well etc.
Oral Communication

39.  Organize your thoughts and ideas before speaking (e.g.
write notes on what you want to say).
 Do not interrupt when someone else is speaking.
 Respond non-verbally to show understanding and
interest when communicating
nodding your head, smiling etc.
 Make eye contact when listening or talking to people.
 Be specific when asking questions and giving answers.
 Take notes if necessary to help you remember what is
being communicated.
Oral Communication

40. Phrase your words properly; it makes a difference.
Two priests were so addicted to smoking that they desperately needed
to puff on cigarettes even when they prayed. Both decided to ask their
superior for permission to smoke.
The first asked if it was okay to smoke while praying?
Permission was denied.
The second priest asked if he was allowed to pray while he was
smoking. His superior found his dedication admirable and immediately
granted his request.
Oral Communication

41. Listening
 Perhaps the best strategy to adopt while the other side
lets off steam is to listen quietly without responding to
their attacks.
 You often get more through listening by finding out what
the other person wants than you do by clever arguments
supporting what you need.
 Generally, good techniques of good listening include
 paying close attention to what is said,
 asking the other party to spell out carefully and clearly exactly what
they mean,
 requesting that ideas be repeated if there is any ambiguity or
uncertainty.

42.  When we do not know others, their body language remains
the first source of building image about them.
 What people say may be reinforced or contradicted by the
non-verbal cues.
 When there is no consistency between the verbal and non-
verbal communication, people rely on the non-verbal aspect
of communication to determine the true meaning of what is
being said.
Non-verbal

43. Non-verbal
Communication
VibesSymbolic
How something is said
instead of what is said i.e.
volume, rate and rhythm,
silent pauses, sighs etc.
Facial expressions, body
gestures, dress etc.
KinesicsParalanguage
Feelings and emotions
received from others
through their body
actions

44. Body Language What it could mean
Avoiding eye contact Lack of confidence in bargaining
position
Making excessive eye contact Trying to bully or intimidate
Fiddling with objects such as hair,
pencils, or papers
Lack of confidence
Crossing and uncrossing the legs Impatient
Keeping legs and arms crossed Not receptive
Non-verbal

45. Court…
Go on and practice these
negotiation strategies to
become effective sales
people!!!