"Inbound Selling: How to Change the Way You Sell to Match How

People Buy."

HOW TO NEGOTIATE
First, when entering a negotiation, take price off the table completely.
Meaning, confirm with your prospect that the contract itself is the absolute
last thing standing between your business and their business working
together. You might ask, “Price and contract aside, is there any reason at
all you or your team are not ready to start working with us?”

By isolating price or terms as the sole factor standing between you and
doing business with the prospect, you ensure that nothing else has been
missed and that if you come to agreement on terms then the next step is to
get a contract signed. Many times, when I observe reps begin a
negotiation, they don’t triple check that price or terms are in fact the very
last factor or factors standing in between them and the close.

Second, when you bring price or terms back to the table, make sure you
quote the price or terms exactly as they should be quoted. For example, if
your company bills annually, then state the price as an annual figure.
Breaking it up into a monthly or quarterly equivalent, without ever being
asked, does not provide you with any leverage whatsoever and makes your
prospect feel deceived.

Third, when you quote price and terms, do not negotiate with yourself. In
other words, state the price and terms -- and the price and terms -- alone.
Hit mute on your phone, or, if in person, zip it.

Learn to be comfortable with silence. It is a source of power. If you start

discussing anything other than the exact price or terms your prospect -- if
he or she is a good negotiator -- will let you keep going until you offer
them a deal that they did not even ask for.
Fourth, when your prospect reacts to the price or terms, they may push
back—stand your ground. For example, the prospect may say, “Wow,
that’s expensive.” Or “Is that the best you can do?” Or “Is that just your
list price?” If and when they do this, both your verbal and non-verbal
response will set the tone for the rest of the conversation.

Do not, under any circumstances, emotionally react to their pushback.

Instead, counter with a question like “What do you mean?” or “Expensive
compared to . . . what?” or “Why do you ask?” or “Huh, I’ve never been
asked that before.”

They’ll likely either drop it or they’ll push you to start negotiating. When
they do this, reconfirm that price or terms are in fact the very last thing
standing between the two of you and that if you come to terms the next
steps are to move forward.

Fifth, use optionality. Instead of pushing your prospect for a price,

consider giving them one of two paths related to the investment. The
question that I’ve had the most success with is the following: “Is this a
budget issue, or a cash flow issue?” (I also realize there are some
companies out there that have a “zero-discounting” policy. If you work for
one of them, amen. I love that. If you don’t, keep reading.)

By presenting the negotiation like this, you’re setting yourself up for a

tradeoff, not a concession. In other words, you’re asking them to prioritize
whether the entire amount (budget) is the issue, or the frequency with
which payments are made (cash flow) is the issue. This is where your
leverage begins. If they come back with budget or come back with cash
flow, follow them down this path but reinforce what the standard price or
billing term is.

Once that’s done, ask, “What did you have in mind?” Or “Where do we
need to be to make this a no-brainer?” Whatever they state, acknowledge
it, but don’t agree to it. Assess whether this is within your acceptable range
of negotiation and if it is, make the trade-off and close the deal.
If not, keep going.