Did you make a proposal only to have the prospect come back with a lowball price? Time to employ sales negotiation techniques. Most people will be looking for the most economical price, so sales reps must be able to counter these offers with the value of their product and how it will help prospects save money in the long run. Here are key sales negotiation techniques to help you close deals.

Practice Makes Perfect in Sales Negotiation Techniques

First, as we’ve written time-​and-​time again, mindset is crucial when going into sales meetings. Your verbal and nonverbal communication speaks volumes to a prospect. Displaying confidence and capability promotes the idea that you are the right person to work with and that your services will provide immense value to their business. Use the SalesCred application by SalesFuel to assess your predisposed behaviors or thoughts on conflict and compromise. The psychometrics provided by the app can supply fresh insight and tips in areas you would like to improve upon regarding sales weaknesses, strengths, credibility, and rapport. In addition, if you are susceptible to getting nervous during deals, look through these SalesFuel blogs to learn about becoming a more assertive and effective sales rep through body language and word choice.

You’ve Made the Offer, Time for Negotiation

Katie Shonk, writing for the Harvard Law School, breaks business negotiation into two common types of rationales. Constraint rationales, otherwise known as financial restraints or other factors, can hold individuals back from accepting a proposal. If your prospect is making comments about financial limits, you’ll need to work hard to show them the value of your offer. On the other hand, disparagement rationales would lead your prospect to decline the proposal on the basis that your solution is of low quality. In this case, you’ll need to provide evidence of satisfied clients who can vouch for the quality of your solution.

Compromise, Don’t Cave

Disagreements require compromise, but how can you close the deal without over-​or-​under selling your product? Shonk recommends reps use these three sales negotiation techniques.

Highlight "Minimized" Losses Rather Than Gains

Rather than suggesting you will be able to increase revenue, consider explaining how your services will minimize losses or solve issues that the prospect’s business is already facing. By doing so, your tactic is to stress the importance of resolving problems to reach the prospect’s goals, as opposed to focusing solely on potential profit.

Mitigate Losses and Gains

The “loss aversion” principle, coined by psychologists Kahneman and Tversky, explains that negative repercussions affect people more than the positive ones. Therefore, long term gains should be stressed over a period of time, while losses should be done in a lump sum. You may be able to employ this sales negotiation technique during a sales conversation by creating a timeline to show how your solution will positively impact your prospect in the long term.

Avoid Overjustifying

Lame justifications can be easy for prospects to counter. State your case and wait to see what the prospect says. This tactic also supports the idea that you are confident in your case and do not need to provide reasoning beyond that.

Know When to Walk Away

What happens when these tactics do not pan out? Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal. If the buyer will not accept your price and is not going to budge, regardless of the worth of your product, agree that you won’t be able to help them. Consider reaching out at a different point in time for a renegotiation, after giving the prospect time to evaluate and perhaps finding a way to add more value to your offering.

Closing Deals Using Sales Negotiation Techniques

In summary, deals greatly depend on the seller and their sales negotiation techniques. If you want to become more confident and credible during sales meetings, use SalesCred tools. Furthermore, maintain a positive and confident mindset, compromise when need be, mitigate losses and gains, don’t overjustify, and finally, know when a deal is not plausible and walk away.

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