In module 9 of the Big Deal Roadmap (negotiating the deal), I ask the sales team a number of questions which look way more straightforward than they are.

Questions like:

• What is the customer’s approach to negotiating with vendors?
• How many rounds of negotiating with the customer do you expect?
• With whom will you be negotiating? The IT department, the end-user, the procurement department, or all three?
   

Before developing your negotiating strategy, you need to understand the answers to these important questions.

There is no point in giving the customer your firm and final offer if two more rounds of negotiation are yet to come.

New Customer?

Now, what if you’ve never sold to this customer before? How do you know how close to the finish line you are?

Remember, back in Module 6, we talked about gaining a competitive advantage and the benefits of developing a coach.

Let your coach be your guide

Your coach wants you to win; that’s why we call them a coach.

Now is the time to ask your coach for insight into how the final negotiating process will go from the customer’s perspective.

They may not tell you the exact price you need to win, but they will guide you through the process and help make sure you don’t get blindsided at the last moment.

Ecosystem partners can also help

While this may be a new customer to you, the partners you’re working with may have sold to this customer before and be willing to share what they learned in their deal.

The products they’re selling may be different, but the process is likely the same.

Customers tend to use the same tactics when negotiating large deals with their vendors.

Without a coach or a partner, all you can do is ask the customer what their process looks like and hope for the best.

Often the customer will cooperate, but sometimes they prefer to hold their cards close to their vest. 

Make no mistake

If it’s a large or sophisticated customer, they are likely to develop a negotiating strategy of their own to gain as much leverage and concessions in the deal as they can.

Working through all the procurement layers and closing your deal may take longer than you expect and is a big reason why sales teams miss their forecast and end up deferring their deals to the next quarter.

There is always risk in this stage of the sales campaign, but the more you know about the negotiating process from the customer’s perspective, the more likely you are to close your deal when expected.

• See you next week when I ask one of my favourite questions; I call it the Look-Back Question for a special reason!
   

See you next Saturday.

Great Selling – Jeff@SalesLeadersOnly.com