How often have you reached the end of a sales appointment and couldn’t quite close the buyer? The buyer is interested in what you presented and provided many buying signals during and after the presentation, but… they still said NO.
Why would a buyer who is interested in your product and services do that? By the end of the sales appointment, you may not have been able to successfully negotiate terms of sale that were acceptable to the buyer and your company.
Many salespeople do not effectively negotiate with their buyers because they do not realize how many negotiating points they have at their command. If your company sets the terms for pricing, or offers a limited choice in style, size, or color, it could be easy to assume you and your buyers have few options for negotiating. The fact is that most salespeople do have many terms of sale they can use to negotiate a win-win sale.
To increase your flexibility in closing a sale, now is a great time to make a list of what is truly negotiable in your sale. Let’s begin with the easy items:
• If you sell a product, what are the models, size, colors, and other features that are available?
• Which of those items are requested most by your clients?
• Which items are the most difficult for your company to produce either because of the effort to produce it or the scarcity of materials to make it?
• If you sell a service, what are the various levels of service you offer?
• Next, list your investment options.
• Do you have sales events with lower investments or end of the month specials?
• Do you match competitor pricing?
• Are you or your manager authorized to adjust the amounts charged?
• Can buyers get a discount if they pay cash?
• If buyers purchase with an in house credit program or a credit card, does that affect price? How does the delivery of your product affect the monies involved?
• Is there a scheduled price increase coming soon?
• Is your pricing directly affected if buyers:
• request rush orders or delayed orders?
• purchase multiple items?
• purchase today rather than next week?
• put down a deposit and your company holds the order for an amount of time?
• purchase using an installment plan?
Become an expert on every option available from your company!
Other areas where buyers tend to negotiate include warranty or customer service options.
• Can you adjust the length of warranty the buyer receives?
• Can you adjust the length of customer service?
• Are there levels of customer service you can offer in person, over the phone, or online support?
Preparation will prevent you from becoming lost in a negotiation with not knowing what action to take next.
I hope you found the article useful. Give me a call if you have any questions.