Negotiation
Tactics and lessons to master negotiation and win more deals
Wheelin’ and dealin’ at the end of the month? Wheelin’ and dealin’ at the end of the Quarter?
Since it’s EOQ, I figure there is no time better than now to put together an email on negotiation.
Tactics and lessons learned here are probably too little too late for Q2, but share, study, and practice from the insights below and I promise you’ll see benefits come next quarter-end.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Chris Voss (author of the best-selling book Never Split The Difference joins Devin Reed and Sheena Badani as they dive deep into mastering negotiation.
Another homerun from 30MPC hosts Nick and Armand as they take us through a few lessons and tips to better our negotiation skills. How to hold the line, when to give discounts, and why negotiation is made early in the discovery.
Plus - a healthy dose of snippets to your team master negotiation and close more deals.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
How to Negotiate Like a Boss, w/ Chris Voss
When it comes to negotiation, no doubt you’ve heard of Chris Voss and his best-selling book Never Split The Difference (A must-read for anyone in sales). Chris joins Devin Reed and Sheena Badani as they dive deep into mastering negotiation.
Like most of my podcasts, this one was during a run - and I couldn’t wait to get back and jot down a few notes and highlights. Luck would have it that Devin put together his own SparkNotes version for us HERE:
Focus on Training. “No such thing as good. There’s only trained and untrained”
Take Responsibility For Your Own Development. Don’t leave it up to your company or managers to provide access to the right training opportunities. Nobody will ever be as invested in your success as you are.
Go For No. “Most people are yes addicts. Everybody thinks yes is success. And if you think yes is success, then no means failure. That’s a problem for 70% of the people out there. They’re yes addicts.” (loved this segment)
Be Real. Sales isn’t about convincing or coercing. It’s about aligning with the buyer. And to do that, you need to be clear about your real motives.
Pay Attention To The Little Things. Be present. Listen closely and watch for subtle clues that can make or break your deal.
Practice Empathy Every Day. Empathy is the ability to demonstrate a complete understanding of the other side’s position. You know you’ve done it well when the other side feels understood.
Watch Your Tone. You’ve heard the expression “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” In any negotiation, your tone of voice can make all the difference.
Be Positively Smarter. “You’re 31% smarter in a positive frame of mind. The flip side is, you’re at least 31% dumber in a negative frame of mind.” (SMILE)
Calibrate Your Senses. To succeed in our new remote selling, Zoom-driven world, you need to extract the most insight possible from your customers’ visual and verbal cues.
Learn When And How To Say ‘Uncle’. The toughest, most aggressive negotiators are trained to get the best deal possible. To win with them, you need to make them feel like they’ve won first.
Mastering Negotiation
Nick and Armand take us through a few lessons and tips to better our negotiation skills in this 30MPC episode. How to hold the line, when to give discounts, and why negotiation is made in the discovery.
Beginning of the call is key. Start with a "helping mindset"
Give prospects a price range and build from there.
The upfront contract can defuse any future price questions ("...naturally you'll have questions on price - obviously I have to get to know your business a bit better, so do you mind if I ask a few questions first..")
Discovery sets the stage for negotiation.
Battlegrounds - Competitors vs. Your Solution. Steer towards your strengths.
The goal is to get customers to articulate pain points where you win.
Where do you price?
What would it take for them to do this without you?
Market conditions can dictate where you price...
Anchoring. Customers want to see/feel like they got a deal. (Movie Popcorn pricing)
How do you price?
Push away on unneeded plans/features before pitching price.
Nick's cardinal sin of selling. "I'm going to stop talking because you probably have questions or feedback".
How do you negotiate
Seek to understand. "I sell to ___ all day. It sounds like you have something in mind, can you give me a sense of where your expectations were at?" and "What makes it too expensive?"
Call their bluff. "That seems like a great deal. What's wrong with going that route?"
Give buyers a peek behind the curtain on the internal discounting process.
Give/Get. (Table-stakes in negotiation)
**Bonus -keeping the door/file open. Leave room for a comeback*
STRETCH SNIPPETS
💪 Devin Reed with the Stretch VP Hat Trick this week. Check out two more solid pieces of content on negotiation including:
Top 5 negotiation mistakes to maintain control over your pipeline, win more, and increase the size of your deals. Learn more about his list: Unprepared, Inadequate Information, List Price, Rushing the Process and Being too Nice.
This one simple negotiation mistake (Negotiating price over email) is costing you deals. Learn what he recommends instead (sharing price over email is okay- it actually impacts win rates for the better) and more.
👉 Chris Mele, Managing Partner at Software Pricing Partners gives us his Top 9 things to keep in mind when making concessions on your next deal. My favorite: You have more power than you think.
👊 Need more Voss? John Barrows chats with Chris Voss and shares a few takeaways from his conversation. If you haven’t read the book - listen to this podcast first for some familiar learnings like Happy Ears, Selective Listening, Win-Wins leave you vulnerable, and more.
👂 At a tactical level, sales is more like playing poker than chess says Jeb Blount. The most effective way to get a peek at those cards is to keep your ears open and your mouth shut, says Jeb Blount in this podcast about using your ears to better negotiate. “Listening is where effective sales negotiators earn their stripes.”
🧠 Mindset
Great read from Polina Pompliano on 7 mentally tough people and the tactics they use to build resilience. Learn from David Goggins, Kobe Bryant, Sara Blakely, Courtney Dauwalter, and more. Article HERE. Podcast/Video below:
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
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