Sales Techniques

Photo by Nathan Shively on Unsplash

Matthew Stafford has always been one of my favorite NFL quarterbacks, beginning with three solid years as a Georgia Bulldog from 2006-2008. He went on to the Lions as a first round draft choice and is today the highest paid NFL player. Stafford recently broke the NFL mark for the most passing yards in a quarterback’s first 100 games with 27,890 yards and 177 touchdowns.

That said, in an October Sunday night game this year they marched down the field repeatedly against the Steelers’ defense, but the bad news is those marches all ended short of the end zone. The Lions ended up losing 20-15 to the Steelers after gaining 482 yards of total offense but achieving no touchdowns, rather just five field goals. They became the first team in NFL history to gain at least 475 yards of offense, not have multiple turnovers, and still score less than 20 points.

The Lions were also just the second team in NFL history to gain 480 yards, hold their opponents to less than 21 points, and lose. And they were just the third team in NFL history to gain more than 480 yards and fail to score a touchdown.

I begin with this analogy as a setup for spending a few minutes discussing negotiating when closing sales. Those awesome yardage statistics cited above didn’t equate to victory on the scoreboard. They ran up and down the field and got all hot and sweaty, but didn’t close out the Steelers. Selling is very similar. You may have racked up lots of yardage (yes answers to checking questions and lots of positive body language and facial expressions), but that doesn’t translate directly to signed agreements.

So here’s the thing. Selling and negotiating are separate activities. Even when your efforts have been successful and buyers want what you’re offering, they still typically “deal check” and nibble at you over terms and pricing, even after they’re “sold.” My point is that you should not begin negotiating until the selling is finished, and conversely not return to selling once you’ve begun negotiating.

————Negotiation————–

“I (Doug) can’t reduce the price of Sell is NOT a Four Letter Word, but I will pay the shipping for you.”

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Here’s a recent example where I was the buyer. During October I decided to replace my 10 year old car with something newer and dedicated the biggest part of a week to working with an independent auto broker who sells mostly current year, super low mileage certified vehicles (Although I can afford to pay for them, I just don’t buy brand new cars, as I would rather let somebody else take the big drive-off financial hit). So this broker guy “puppy-dogged” a different name plate vehicle home with me each day during that week.

Sales Negotiation Techniques

Photo by Doug Robinson

My favorite ended up being a current year version of the old one I was replacing, with only 5,600 miles, although it wasn’t my preferred color choice. Regardless, I decided that was “the one” and planned to take him a check the next morning and finalize the deal.

That night I happened to see an Internet ad depicting a vehicle equipped exactly like it with two differences; it was brand new with zero miles, and it was MY color. Since this was a year-end closeout vehicle I decided to take a shot and sent an email requesting information. I received a call first thing the next day and immediately told the salivating salesman I lived 100 miles away and didn’t need anything but his best drive-off cash price if he really wanted to sell that particular car. He assured me he did and promised to call me back in a few minutes. He came back with a surprising price that was several hundred dollars less than the slightly-used local car, verified by a hard-copy offer arriving in my email as we spoke. At that point I immediately decided I wanted that car, so the selling was over and I transitioned into negotiation mode. I thought while I was on a roll I would try to trim a little more and turn a great deal into a tremendous one. I told him I would bring him a cashier’s check for “$X,” which was another $235 less that his “great deal price,” and would pick up the car the following morning. After a bit of expected whining, he folded like a cheap suit and I ended up getting the exact vehicle I wanted for $900 less than its used twin brother with 5,600 miles. That should help you grasp my stated difference between selling and negotiating.

I’ll close by mentioning two keystones of negotiating:

— Never give up something without getting something of equal or greater value in return. If you do, you just get steamrolled.
— Establish and maintain a list of concessions that are prudent to use as negotiating tools. For example:

  • A certain number of referrals with introductions or a video testimonial.
  • An email blast testimonial to a local group of potential customers.
  • An advance annual payment or an additional contract year.
  • Buying a bundle of multiple services/products.

Assume a buyer tells you she wants the thing you are selling but thinks the price is a bit high and wants a discount. You might respond by saying,

“The only way I can reduce the price is if you were to bundle it with another service. If you do I can discount both items, saving you $XX.” OR

“I can’t just cut the price but I will give you a 10% good neighbor discount if you introduce me to 3 of your neighbors and recommend my services to them.”

That’s much more professional and productive that just rolling over for buyers and saying, “Yea, I can do that for you and give it to you for that.”

©2018 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC