Is it a selling or negotiating skills problem?
Internet and its applications continue to commoditize offerings of several service companies. The sales executives of these companies now deal mostly with the procurement departments rather than the senior executives. Under the current market dynamics, an ability to differentiate between selling problem vs. a negotiating problem can mean millions of dollars in an organization’s performance one way or the other. A skilled negotiator will usually produce a good deal and strengthen the relationship.
How do you diagnose if you need to strengthen your negotiating skills? Here are some symptoms.
- Customers are becoming more demanding even though you are bending backward to accommodate them.
- You do not get enough back for what you give away. Several customers have come to expect this.
- Senior executives in your company are frequently getting involved in negotiations.
- Most negotiations boil down to “price.”
- The Account Manager wants to give in to the customer because he or she believes:
- Your “value proposition” isn’t strong enough, or
- Buyer is only focusing on price or
- A “difficult” personality on the other side is to be “kept happy” to maintain a “good relationship.”
- Your Account Managers believe that the customer has more power.
- The buyer shields access to the users of your product or service.
- The negotiations take too long to conclude, affecting the sales cycle.
- Account Managers focus on “minimizing the damage.”
- Even a small percent improvement in deal profitability would make a big difference for your company
- You feel that it would help if the negotiating training were more realistic in real-world situations.
This is not a comprehensive list of symptoms. However, if any of the above statements are correct, you have a need to improve your organization’s negotiating skills.
What about signs that indicate that your organization needs to better understand how to support its negotiators? Ask yourself,
- Do the negotiators have an approved list of “tradable”?
- Are they attaining objectives in exchange for any movement from their positions?
- Do all the concerned internal parties follow the same negotiating methodology? Does everyone speak the same negotiating language?
- Have the senior executives received the training and adjusted internal processes to support the negotiating approach?
- Are there measures in place to create sustainability of the skill?
- Do field managers understand how to coach the ability and support the front line negotiators?
- Do you view negotiating excellence as a core competency for your organization?
Skilled negotiating performance can mean the difference between exceeding goals and not meeting them. A common approach instills team spirit and culture that can overcome most strategic challenges.
Satish Mehta
Author, Speaker, Coach
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