WHAT A STRATEGIC NEGOTIATION PROCESS CAN T DO FOR YOU


WHAT A STRATEGIC NEGOTIATION PROCESS CAN’T DO FOR YOU

Of course, I’m realistic enough to know that there are very few—if any—complete solutions to any problem. Despite the many benefits of our Strategic Negotiation Process, there are some problems that even it can’t solve. Many negotiation problems, in fact, stem from a poorly executed or nonexistent sales process. Poor account selection is one example. If you sell for a firm that prides itself on providing value and solutions versus the lowest cost, and you choose to call on customers who don’t share those values, you are creating problems that, though unrelated to negotiations, will nevertheless have an impact on those negotiations.

Just as account selection can affect negotiation, so too can the negotiation tactics used by your predecessors. Let’s say, for example, that you’re brand-new in a territory, and you’re following a sales rep who, for years, gave away price and service to close deals at the end of each quarter. Unfortunately, even though you may be new, your customers are going to remember, and when negotiation time comes around, they’re going to expect the same from you as they got from your predecessor.

The level of the individuals on whom you choose to call can also have an effect on negotiations. If, for example, you’re trying to sell fuel to an airline and are calling on the lowest-level purchasing agent selling price per gallon, the chances are you’ll end up with negotiation problems. If, on the other hand, you call on executives on multiple levels in the organization, and sell a solution that includes not only fuel but also the benefits of that fuel, such as lowering long-term maintenance costs because of the fuel’s high quality, whatever negotiation pressure you encounter will be more easily handled. No doubt you’ve heard the phrase “You negotiate what you sell,” and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, it’s the combination of effective sales and negotiation processes that will yield the best results for improving your odds in the negotiation marketplace.

But it’s not only ineffective or nonexistent sales processes that cause negotiation problems. Other aspects of a deal, although not directly connected to negotiations, can have an impact on them. For example, we’ve worked with many clients over the years who have products that are priced too high, quality that’s too low, or technology that’s out-of-date relative to their competitors. Not surprisingly, these firms experience many sales and, subsequently, negotiation problems, which is why they turn to consultants for solutions. But these aren’t the kinds of problems that can be fixed with a training class on a negotiation process. These are value-proposition problems, and they can’t be negotiated away. Having to compete against a firm that has a better, faster, cheaper alternative to your product or service can only be rectified in the long term by correcting your own company’s value proposition.

There is, finally, one other area in which our Strategic Negotiation Process cannot provide the solution to a problem. Because of the nature of the process, it is effective only when there is more than one item to be negotiated, and the more items there are, the more effective it can be. For that reason, if you’re selling a service or product that’s a commodity, that is, one for which the only variable is price, a negotiation process can provide you with very little benefit. Fortunately, however, there are very few real commodities. In the vast majority of negotiations, even though it may appear at first that price is the only item, if you look further you will almost invariably find that there are other items that can—and should—be part of the negotiation.




Strategic Negotiation. A Breakthrough Four-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation
Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough Four-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation
ISBN: 0793183049
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 74

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