I heard an interview with a Minnesota state legislator last week on the radio. She said one of her biggest keys to her successful negotiations with other legislators has been her ability to notice when the person she's negotiating with has reached their fill. She said it's very important to (accurately) know when the other party is almost ready to pull the plug on negotiations.
The same thing is true of sales negotiating. Through our perceptiveness, wisdom, and skepticalness, we need to understand the other party's reality if we're going to be successful at negotiating with them. The bottom line in any negotiating situation is that the other party can back out of negotations at any time. This gives the other party a lot of control. Successful negotiating isn't about power, it's about nuance.
Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.
Recent Comments