NEGOTIATION SKILLS

TRAINING

Objectives
At the end of this training, you will be able to

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?

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 friends 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 customers attitude toward your product or service

generally falls into one of four categories.....

Objection
Indifference
Skepticism
Acceptance

Customer Attitudes

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

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
Sowhat
whatdoes
doesthe
thesales
salesprocess
processentail?
entail?

Overview of the sales process

1. Prospecting and qualifying

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 and 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 customers 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

During negotiation...
Use open ended questions to

Listen

confirm your understanding of

their needs.

Be prepared to make slight

Be prepared for tactical responses

from prospects and customers

such as exclamations after you
explain the terms of your service
(eh, aba! etc) or silence dont
react and instead respond with
more questions
Dont rush to fill pauses with more

talk be comfortable with

moments of silence

adjustments for your prospect if

possible eg. Adjust the
product/service offering, loan
payment terms etc.
Try to identify small things you

have both agreed on to help develop

positive momentum summarize
these agreements periodically

Negotiating with prospects and customers

After the negotiation...
If you are able to make a sale

Summarize verbally and/or in

writing the details of what you and
the customer have agreed on as the
terms of the service.
Thank the customer/ prospect for
their time and reinforce the
purchase decision

If you did not make a sale

For your next negotiation, review the

points that seemed to help move the
negotiation process forward study
them, know them, use them

Sincerely thank the prospect for their

time
Avoid appearing annoyed or
disappointed
Give the prospect an out or an
opening for them to come back to
you/your organisation in the future
(have this statement prepared)
For your next negotiation, review the
points that seemed to prevent the
negotiation process from moving
forward study them, know them,
and act accordingly

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

Handling objections and resistance

Prospects and customers raise objections for a

myriad of reasons

Some people will almost always raise objections, even if they really
need the product/service

They may be people who naturally raise objections as a matter of buying

technique or negotiation strategy

The prospect may seek reassurance that the product/service will

perform or yield the benefits promised
A few prospects will raise objections merely to irritate you the
salesperson

Handling objections and resistance

Some prospects raise objections so that they can bargain for a better
deal. Irrespective of how good your terms may be compared to the
competition, some prospects are obsessed with getting an even better
deal so that they can feel victorious.

Prospects may raise an objection because they have a bias against the
your organization or type of service or, in rare cases, simply dislike
you the salesperson.

Handling objections and resistance

Identifying and negotiating the prospect's most important

or key objection is the first step to negotiating total

prospect resistance.
One subtle way is by engaging the prospect in informal

conversation before the sales presentation and encouraging

him or her to reveal personal concerns and perspectives on
problems
Which other ways
Which other ways
can you think of?
can you think of?

Negotiation outcomes
PROSPECT
SA
LE
S
PE Win
RS
O
N

Win

Lose

Both the prospect and the sales

person are satisfied with the terms of
the sale and a good business
relationship develops

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

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.

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

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 Strategies
Strategy
Vinegar Honey
Start with the cheapest
possible product or
service but one which
still has benefits for the
prospect.

Approach
Akosua approaches one
of her prospects and
informs him that he can
access a loan with very
little effort she goes
ahead to explain the
procedure for obtaining
a loan from her
organization.

Practice with the

cheapest
product/service on your
listing.

Negotiation Strategies
Strategy
Pinpoint the need

Approach
Akosuas prospect
appears skeptical about
the process and indicates
Focus on the need ie.
so, stressing that he
Why a loan will be
beneficial to the prospect knew people who had
been made similar
and enumerate the
promises but went
benefits s/he would
through a lot of stress to
derive from the loan.
obtain loans.
She ignores his comment
and begins to highlight
the benefits to be

Negotiation Strategies
Strategy
Challenge

Approach

The prospect goes quiet

for a while then tells
Akosua that he needs a
The prospect throws a
challenge at Akosua in an loan of GHC 5,000 but
wants to be able to
effort to win some
negotiate the terms of
concessions.
payment because he
knows two people from
his office who got a
similar deal.

Negotiation Strategies
Strategy
Limited Authority
Limited authority is an
attempt to postpone the
decision on a pretext to
get approval from a
competent authority.
Whereas the real aim is
to gain time for
reconsideration, and/or
keeping the prospect still
interested in the service
for a reasonable period
of time until a win-win

Approach
Akosua says, those two
people you are referring
to took huge loans and so
were given the
opportunity to negotiate
their terms of payment .
But she indicates that
she will speak to her boss
about it.

Negotiation Strategies
Strategy

Approach

Good Guy/Bad Guy

The good guy / bad guy is an
internationally used strategy.
One member of a team takes a
hard line approach while
other member is friendly and
easy to deal with.
When bad guy steps out for a
few minutes, the good guy
offers the deal that under the
circumstances seems too good
to refuse. Bad guys usually
comprise spouses, lawyers
etc.

Based on your
experience on the
field, how would you
act out the good
guy/bad guy
strategy to your
favour?

Negotiation Strategies
Strategy

Approach

Defer
Please excuse us while
Deferring strategy allows we discuss ways in which
the negotiators time to
we might provide you a
reevaluate their
better offer. Would you
positions. Deferring a
please reevaluate your
decision often proves
position too?
that patience pays.

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
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

Paralanguage
How something is said
instead of what is said i.e.
volume, rate and rhythm,
silent pauses, sighs etc.

Vibes

Kinesics
Facial expressions, body
gestures, dress 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,

pencils, or papers

Lack of confidence

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
Whatare
aresome
someofof
the
thecultural
culturalnorms
normsinin
your
area
of
your area of
operation?
operation?

The Ball is in Your Court

Go on and practice these negotiation strategies to

become effective sales people!!!