{"id":14827,"date":"2018-05-29T08:41:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T08:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=14827"},"modified":"2024-09-18T10:26:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T08:26:53","slug":"mastering-art-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/mastering-art-negotiation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering the Art of Negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rePnYdjfHaE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Becoming a better negotiator is a career goal of many professionals. Negotiation is about having influence, getting buy-in, and selling your perspective (whether for salary negotiations, contract negotiations, pitching your strategy, or in teamwork).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Career paths that depend largely on having strong negotiation skills are those in the sales realm including B2B roles, account management, client services, business development, and sales. Learn from sales professionals when you study the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/courses\/za\/uct-sales-management-short-course\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Cape Town Sales Management online short course<\/a>. Gain practical techniques on how to improve your negotiation skills, and gain commitment from a prospective consumer, specifically designed from a sales perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A handful of effective techniques for obtaining commitment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Direct request<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the most basic, straight-forward method of obtaining a commitment. Simply ask. However, it\u2019s important to remember when to be silent and wait for your prospect\u2019s answer. If you say anything before the prospect has time to reply, the pressure has been taken off the client to make the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Benefits summary<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The benefit summary is the logical way to obtain commitment, as prospects buy products for their given, or perceived, benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the more well-known techniques is the<strong> F-A-B approach<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Features of the product<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Advantages of said features<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Benefits the prospect will get from the advantages<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The F-A-B approach is a logical and professional way to conclude a sales presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Balance sheet method<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>This method intends to help the prospect make a commitment based on logical consideration of the pros (assets), and cons (liabilities) related to the purchase decision. As a Salesperson, you should naturally be able to identify more advantages than disadvantages of the purchase decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in drawing up this sheet, it\u2019s important to obtain the prospect\u2019s agreement on each item noted &#8211; particularly on the benefits side, as this will help build a steady commitment from the buyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If genuine concerns are expressed by the prospect on any aspect of your proposal, it\u2019s important to graciously acknowledge the prospect\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This method can certainly be effective with even the most hesitant or nervous buyers, as you can see how the positives outweigh the negatives on paper. The biggest challenge in using this method is in the event that one of the negatives is perceived as a potential dealbreaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Assumptive method<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, you\u2019ll make the assumption the prospect is going to make the commitment, and use the positive statements throughout the presentation to reinforce this assumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s obvious this is a risky method to use if there is no indication from the prospect that they\u2019re at the very least favourably disposed to the proposal. Therefore, this method is more inclined to repeat orders, where there\u2019s already a relationship with the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers like dealing with confident and knowledgeable salespeople, and once trust has been established, each successive sale should become progressively more straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The negotiation method<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Many Salespeople mistakenly think negotiation only take place at the end of a deal &#8211; the closing stage of the sales presentation. However, negotiation is a process that takes place <strong>throughout<\/strong> the sales presentation. The initial negotiations establish the basic arrangements such as the meeting location, length of the meeting, and the attendees of the meeting. These decisions can be just as important as the final negotiation in concluding the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every sale is essentially a negotiation, and most negotiations focus on two major themes &#8211; value and price. In theory, the prospect will want to obtain a higher value for a lower price but a prospect knows this is mostly unrealistic. Therefore, this situation calls for a subtle application of the win-win approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s generally agreed if both parties in a negotiation come out of it better off than they were before, they will have both benefitted &#8211; a win-win situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Handling Objections<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>All of the aforementioned methods can be used individually, or in tandem with one another. They should be seen as tools &#8211; the selection of the appropriate one being dependant on the specific task to be accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about sales management and the different tools utilised to close the deal with the<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/courses\/za\/uct-sales-management-short-course\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UCT Sales Management online short course<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Fancy yourself a Chief Negotiator? &nbsp;Perhaps a sales career is for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Find out more about our UCT Sales Management short course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a class=\"button large postcta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/courses\/uct-sales-management-short-course\/course_registrations\/step_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">REGISTER NOW<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Negotiation is about having influence, getting buy-in, and selling your perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":17401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[122,127],"article-format":[],"class_list":["post-14827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","tag-business-management","tag-career-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Master the Art of Negotiation from A Sales Perspective | GetSmarter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Negotiation is all about having influence, getting buy-in, and selling your perspective. 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