Objectives

Determine the importance of

negotiation in the sales process
Identify key steps to take at every
point in the negotiation process
Determine how to use various
negotiation strategies to achieve
results
Use effective communication to
achieve good negotiation outcomes.
Content
What is Negotiation?
Negotiating with Prospects and
Customers
Negotiation Strategies
Communication Skills
 What is negotiation?
 Simply put...
 the process of getting what you want from another
person.

 The truth is we negotiate every day, everyone in their every

day lives is a negotiator.
 Children negotiate with their parents for things they
want.
 Spouses negotiate with each other over things they
should buy or do this weekend eg. go to the funeral, the
wedding or take the children to their friend’s party?
 Subordinates negotiate with their bosses over deadlines.
 Workers negotiate with their clients over services they
can offer them.
 Why negotiate
Negotiations occur for several reasons:
 To convince people to take your side of an
issue
 To agree on how to share or divide a
limited resource
 To resolve a problem or dispute between
the parties
 To sell a product or service (Sales
negotiation)
 Sales negotiation
 Sales negotiation can be a formal event at a
specific time and date or it can be ongoing at
different points in the sales process.

 As a sales staff you are seeking a mutually

beneficial relationship with your prospects
and clients, not something that benefits
only you or them.
Why do you need
to negotiate with
customers in the
first place?
Because of Customer Attitudes
 A customer’s attitude toward your product or service
generally falls into one of four categories.....
 Objection
 Indifference
 Acceptance
Customer Attitudes

Skepticism :
Indifference: Customer is
Acceptance :
interested in a
Objection : Customer shows Customer agrees
particular
Customer a lack of interest with your
benefit, but
displays in your product benefits and has
doubts whether
opposition to because of no no negative
your product
your product perceived need feelings toward
can really
for its benefits your product
provide the
benefit
S0 why do you need negotiation
skills?...
 To be able to change customer attitudes
towards your products and services;

 Bottom line
•....... To win more Customers
and improve profits for your
organisation.
Negotiating with prospects and
customers
 Negotiation with prospects and customers must be
undertaken within the context of the sales process.
 Where inadequate prospecting, pre sales preparation
and planning is done, negotiation is likely to be
unsuccessful.

So what does the sales process entail?

Overview of the sales process
1. Prospecting and qualifying

2. Planning the sales call: The pre approach

3. Approaching the prospect

4. Sales presentation and demonstration

5. Negotiating resistance and objections

6. Confirming and closing the sale

7. Following up and providing after sales service

 Overview of the sales process
 Negotiation with the prospect usually begins after
you have had the opportunity to present your
products and services or after step 4 in the sales
process.
 At this point, you will be able to gauge whether the
prospect
 objects
 is indifferent
 is skeptical or
 accepts your product or service
 Based on your assessment of the situation, you can
then begin to negotiate.
 Negotiating with prospects & customers
Before negotiation begins...
 Avoid negotiating unless you
have had an opportunity to fully
present your products and
services
 Understand the objections
raised by your prospect and
identify what your prospect or
customer’s main points of
interest may be based on these
objections
 Be prepared to illustrate how
your offering will benefit them
and quantify the value they
will get (if possible)
 Be prepared to be patient (which
can lead to higher trust between
you and your prospect)
 Be confident in the value your
product or service will provide
your prospect
 Be prepared to work toward a
solution that works for both you
and your prospect
 Know in advance at what point
the negotiation is no longer
beneficial to you and your
organisation and be prepared to
walk away
 Negotiating with prospects and customers
After the negotiation...
 If you did not make a sale…
 If you are able to make a sale…
 Sincerely thank the prospect for
 Summarize verbally and/or
their time
in writing the details of what
you and the customer have  Avoid appearing annoyed or
agreed on as the terms of the disappointed
service.  Give the prospect an “out” or an
opening for them to come back
 Thank the customer/
to you/your organisation in the
prospect for their time and
future (have this statement
reinforce the purchase
prepared)
decision
 For your next negotiation, review
 For your next negotiation, the points that seemed to
review the points that prevent the negotiation process
seemed to help move the from moving forward – study
negotiation process forward them, know them, and act
– study them, know them, accordingly
use them
 Handling objections and resistance
 Objections can be defined as statements, questions, or
actions by the prospect that indicate resistance or an
unwillingness to buy . . . at least yet
 Without sales resistance, there wouldn't be any need
for salespeople
 The first person who reached the prospect would
make the sale
 Serious negotiations seldom begin until the
prospect's objections surface
 Negotiation outcomes
PROSPECT
Win
Win Both the prospect and the sales
person are satisfied with the
terms of the sale and a good
SALES PERSON
business relationship develops
Lose The prospect is satisfied with the
sale but the sales person feels
manipulated and may
reciprocate in future
negotiations or reduce customer
service. The business
relationship is in trouble.
Lose
The salesperson is satisfied
with the sale but the prospect
is not. He may even feel
manipulated or taken
advantage of. The business
relationship is in trouble
Both parties are dissatisfied
with the sale thus the bond of
trust between them may be
so damaged that they are
unlikely to enter into any
future business relationship.
Common mistakes to be avoided in
negotiation
 Inadequate preparation
 Use of intimidating behavior
 Impatience
 Loss of temper
 Talking too much, listening too
little, and remaining indifferent to
body language.
 Arguing instead of influencing.
Negotiation Strategies
 There are various well tested strategies that can be used to
achieve a win-win outcome, such as those used by Akosua and
Ebo as outlined in this section.

 Akosua and Ebo decide to visit a well known business area to win new
clients for their institution.

 Their first stop is an office located in the area with a lot of staff who are
ideal potential clients. Akosua and Ebo intend to introduce their services
to them, get them to be interested in the services to the point where they
will actually sign on for a service such as open an account and/or take a
loan.
Negotiation
Strategy Strategies Approach
Vinegar – Honey Akosua approaches one of her
prospects and informs him that
Start with the cheapest possible he can access a loan with very
product or service but one little effort – she goes ahead to
which still has benefits for the explain the procedure for
prospect. obtaining a loan from her
organization.

Practice with the

cheapest
product/service
on your listing.
Negotiation
Strategy
Strategies Approach
Pinpoint the need Akosua’s prospect appears
skeptical about the process and
Focus on the need ie. Why a loan indicates so, stressing that he
will be beneficial to the prospect knew people who had been made
and enumerate the benefits s/he similar promises but went
would derive from the loan. through a lot of stress to obtain
loans.

She ignores his comment and

begins to highlight the benefits
to be derived from such a loan.
Negotiation
Strategy Strategies Approach
Challenge The prospect goes quiet for a
while then tells Akosua that he
The prospect throws a challenge needs a loan of GHC 5,000 but
at Akosua in an effort to win wants to be able to negotiate the
some concessions. terms of payment because he
knows two people from his office
who got a similar deal.
Negotiation
Strategy Strategies Approach
Limited Authority Akosua says, ‘those two people
you are referring to took huge
Limited authority is an attempt to loans and so were given the
postpone the decision on a opportunity to negotiate their
pretext to get approval from a terms of payment’ . But she
competent authority. Whereas the indicates that she will speak to
real aim is to gain time for her boss about it.
reconsideration, and/or keeping
the prospect still interested in the
service for a reasonable period of
time until a win-win situation is
achieved.
Negotiation Strategies
Strategy Approach
Good Guy/Bad Guy Based on your
experience on
The good guy / bad guy is an
internationally used strategy. One the field, how
member of a team takes a hard line would you act
approach while other member is out the good
friendly and easy to deal with. guy/bad guy
When bad guy steps out for a few strategy to your
minutes, the good guy offers the deal
that under the circumstances seems too favour?
good to refuse. Bad guys usually
comprise spouses, lawyers etc.
Negotiation Strategies
Strategy
Defer
Deferring strategy allows the
negotiators time to reevaluate
their positions. Deferring a
decision often proves that
patience pays.
Approach
Please excuse us while we discuss
ways in which we might provide
you a better offer. Would you
please reevaluate your position
too?
Negotiation Strategies
 Keep It Light
 You never want to let negotiations become too tense. Always feel free to
smile and inject some humour in the conversation.

 Lightening up the mood can ingratiate you with your prospect while
also conveying your negotiating strength.

 If you do not appear to be taking the negotiation as a do or die affair,

your prospect may conclude that you are ready to move on if s/he does
not cooperate and based on that s/he may decide to be cooperative.
Communication Skills
 Communication skills are crucial in the kind of negotiations
you engage in as field staff. Good communication is the
cornerstone of any productive negotiation. Particularly
important are
 Oral communication and
 Non-verbal communication

 It is also important that as field staff you are aware of critical

cultural norms that exist within your area of operations.
 Fortunately, the Ghanaian culture does not vary too much from one place to
another
Oral Communication
 Oral communication implies communication through the
mouth. It not only refers to speaking but includes the
ability to listen as well.

 Specific examples of oral communication include:

 Face to face communication in conversation, be it direct or
telephone conversation, meetings, interviews, speeches,
presentations, discussions etc.

 Oral communication is significant in building rapport and

trust with customers.
Oral Communication
 When communicating with your prospects and customers
 Slow down your speech and pronounce your words clearly and
correctly.
 Vary your pitch, tone and volume to emphasize key words or
sentences.
 Adjust the volume of your voice to your audience
 speak softly but audibly when you are talking one-on-one

 speak louder when you are talking to a larger group or across a

room
 Be conscious of your speech to avoid filler words such as um, uh, ah,
like, well etc.
Oral Communication
 Organize your thoughts and ideas before speaking (e.g. write notes
on what you want to say).
 Do not interrupt when someone else is speaking.
 Respond non-verbally to show understanding and interest when
communicating
 nodding your head, smiling etc.
 Make eye contact when listening or talking to people.
 Be specific when asking questions and giving answers.
 Take notes if necessary to help you remember what is being
communicated.
 Oral Communication
 Phrase your words properly; it makes a difference.
Two priests were so addicted to smoking that they
desperately needed to puff on cigarettes even when they
prayed. Both decided to ask their superior for
permission to smoke.

The first asked if it was okay to smoke while praying?

Permission was denied.

The second priest asked if he was allowed to pray while

he was smoking. His superior found his dedication
admirable and immediately granted his request.
Listening: a strong negotiation tool!
 Perhaps the best strategy to adopt while the other side lets off
steam is to listen quietly without responding to their attacks.

 You often get more through listening by finding out what the
other person wants than you do by clever arguments
supporting what you need.

 Generally, good techniques of good listening include

 paying close attention to what is said,
 asking the other party to spell out carefully and clearly exactly
what they mean,
 requesting that ideas be repeated if there is any ambiguity or
uncertainty.
Non-verbal communication

 When we do not know others, their body language remains

the first source of building image about them.

 What people say may be reinforced or contradicted by the

non-verbal cues.

 When there is no consistency between the verbal and non-

verbal communication, people rely on the non-verbal aspect of
communication to determine the true meaning of what is
being said.
 Non-verbal
Communication

Feelings and emotions

received from others
through their body
actions
Symbolic Vibes

Paralanguage Kinesics

How something is said

Facial expressions,
instead of what is said
body gestures, dress
i.e. volume, rate and
etc.
rhythm, silent pauses,
sighs etc.
 Non-verbal communication
Body Language What it could mean
Avoiding eye contact Lack of confidence in bargaining
position

Making excessive eye contact Trying to bully or intimidate

Fiddling with objects such as hair, Lack of confidence

pencils, or papers

Crossing and uncrossing the legs Impatient

Keeping legs and arms crossed Not receptive

Cultural norms
 Some general Ghanaian norms include:
 Not using the left hand in communicating with others
either to give something to someone or point in a
direction etc.
 Greeting the people we meet wherever we go

What are some of the

cultural norms in
your area of
operation?
The Ball is in Your Court…
 Practice these negotiation strategies to become
effective negotiators in your chosen endeavour