The Art of Sales Negotiation: Transform Every "No" into a Resounding "Yes" with These Winning Strategies

In many of our blog posts, we discuss sales enablement and its potential to help your sales team increase its closing ratio. But there are specific skills that a salesperson must acquire on their own, including negotiation. A confident negotiator can turn a "no" into a "yes" by learning and then mastering the art of negotiation. We’ll show you how in this post.

TDLR:

• Negotiation tactics refine your existing empathy, giving, and fairness skills.
• Viewing the transaction from your client's side will help you get to a win-win solution.

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Negotiation uses psychology and persuasion.

A key lesson to be learned from our blogs is that the salesperson must become a trusted advisor and not an “order taker.” As part of the role of a trusted advisor, you, as the salesperson, need to understand how to use your influence, persuasion, and empathy. Understanding those natural attributes can give you a powerful edge when it comes to closing the deal. Sales Enablement will deliver the right content at the right time; Negotiation can help you use that content to close more deals.

How to begin a relationship and become a trusted advisor.

If a lead or client thinks you aren’t acting in their best interest, you’ll likely lose the sale, and even if you do work in their best interest, if the client doesn’t understand your motivations, you may still lose the sale. Be sure to practice:

Empathy – To start your relationship you need empathy. Empathy means you can understand the feelings, needs, and perspectives of your lead/client. You need to stop looking at the transaction from your point of view and look at it from what their gains and risks are. By doing this, you can create a ‘win-win’ solution.

Giving – Being reciprocal is a simple thing and is quite natural. It’s also very powerful in negotiation; as a trusted advisor, you must demonstrate goodwill and give value in every conversation and at every stage of the sales process. This can also trigger your lead’s reciprocal tendencies, and they may be more inclined to consider your requests.

Fairness – Before the negotiations, you must fully understand your client, their industry, their fears, and most importantly how your product or service can provide the right solution for their needs. You’ll need to conduct research on your client and position your company’s strengths and unique value proposition.

Knowledge – List the pricing and terms of the product or service. Keep up to date on any promotions or specials.

Sales Negotiation tactics: Learn the basic techniques.

As you learn to negotiate, you’ll soon realize you have a “toolkit” of techniques and tactics to help the negotiations in your pipeline move forward and deliver the winning solutions your clients need. Tactics such as framing, anchoring, and especially asking open-ended questions can influence the client's understanding of the value you offer them and help close the deal.

Turn the no into the YES.

No matter what the negotiation, you’ll always get a “no,” that’s natural. Think about it: how often have you been in a store to purchase something? A salesperson comes up and asks if you need help, and automatically, you say “no.” Don’t be surprised when your client says no – a few times. But every no is a “yes” in disguise.

Use your active listening and your research about your clients to frame questions and responses that show how your product or service can provide them with a solution that is favorable to them. Remember that a “no” is usually given because the value isn’t fully understood.

Use non-verbal communication.

If you’re selling over the phone, you have a few advantages, such as being able to have answers right nearby. But if you are selling face to face or in a Zoom chat, you can see nonverbal communication such as body language, facial expressions, voice, and more; allowing you to “see” the buyer’s state of mind.

Take mental notes of their expressions, body language, and how they respond to your solution presentation.

You must control your reactions to show that you appear confident, enthusiastic, and calm while demonstrating empathy and understanding of your client’s feelings. By doing so, your client will perceive you as credible and trustworthy.

Find the common path.

Using conflict resolution techniques, finding shared interests, and a common path will help you navigate challenging negotiations so you can develop mutually beneficial solutions for your clients.

Remember the goal.

The reason you negotiate is not for your benefit nor the client’s benefit but for a mutual win-win solution that benefits your client’s organization and leaves lasting value. The goal of the negotiation is not to win a sale but to gain a long-lasting client relationship between both parties.

The end is a continuation.

Negotiations never end, even after signing the deal. Follow-up is critical, and the sales team needs to ensure that what they promised to the client is working to expectations and beyond. The most important aspect here is to form a relationship that continues.

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In closing:

Acquiring the ability to negotiate effectively is a skill that can help you achieve a high success rate as a salesperson or manager. By understanding and practicing your innate personal communication strengths, preparing for your client, and understanding that your mission is to help find the right solution for your client, you can achieve your sales goals and establish long-term business relationships.