Provides details on how sales people can negotiate with their prospects and customers to get better deals

1. NEGOTIATION SKILLS
TRAINING

2. 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.

3. Content
 What is Negotiation?
 Negotiating with Prospects and Customers
 Negotiation Strategies
 Communication Skills

4. What is Negotiation?

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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?

8. Because of Customer Attitudes
 A customer’s attitude toward your product or service
generally falls into one of four categories.....
 Objection
 Indifference
 Skepticism
 Acceptance

9. Customer Attitudes
Skepticism :
Indifference: Customer is Acceptance :
Customer interested in a Customer
Objection :
shows a lack of particular agrees with
Customer
interest in your benefit, but your benefits
displays
product doubts and has no
opposition to
because of no whether your negative
your product
perceived need product can feelings toward
for its benefits really provide your product
the benefit

10. 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.

11. Negotiating with Prospects and
Customers

12. 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?

13. 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

14. 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.

15. Negotiating with prospects and customers
Before negotiation begins...
 Avoid negotiating unless you have  Be prepared to be patient (which
had an opportunity to fully present can lead to higher trust between
your products and services you and your prospect)
 Understand the objections raised  Be confident in the value your
by your prospect and identify what product or service will provide
your prospect or customer’s main your prospect
points of interest may be based on  Be prepared to work toward a
these objections solution that works for both you
and your prospect
 Be prepared to illustrate how your
offering will benefit them and  Know in advance at what point the
quantify the value they will get negotiation is no longer beneficial
(if possible) to you and your organisation and
be prepared to walk away

16. 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 adjustments for your prospect if
from prospects and customers – possible eg. Adjust the
such as exclamations after you product/service offering, loan
explain the terms of your service payment terms etc.
(eh, aba! etc) or silence – don’t
react and instead respond with  Try to identify small things you
more questions have both agreed on to help
 Don’t rush to fill pauses with more develop positive momentum –
talk – be comfortable with summarize these agreements
moments of silence periodically

17. Negotiating with prospects and customers
After the negotiation...
 If you are able to make a sale…  If you did not make a sale…
 Summarize verbally and/or in
 Sincerely thank the prospect for
writing the details of what you and their time
the customer have agreed on as the
 Avoid appearing annoyed or
terms of the service.
disappointed
 Give the prospect an “out” or an
 Thank the customer/ prospect for opening for them to come back to
their time and reinforce the you/your organisation in the future
purchase decision (have this statement prepared)
 For your next negotiation, review
 For your next negotiation, review the points that seemed to prevent
the points that seemed to help move the negotiation process from moving
the negotiation process forward – forward – study them, know
study them, know them, use them them, and act accordingly

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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
can you think of?

22. Negotiation outcomes
PROSPECT
Win Lose
Win Both the prospect and the sales The salesperson is satisfied with
person are satisfied with the terms the sale but the prospect is not.
SALES PERSON
of the sale and a good business He may even feel manipulated
relationship develops or taken advantage of. The
business relationship is in
trouble
Lose The prospect is satisfied with the Both parties are dissatisfied with
sale but the sales person feels the sale thus the bond of trust
manipulated and may reciprocate in between them may be so
future negotiations or reduce damaged that they are unlikely
customer service. The business to enter into any future business
relationship is in trouble. relationship.

23. 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.

24. Negotiation Strategies

25. 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.

26. Negotiation Strategies
Strategy 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.

27. Negotiation Strategies
Strategy 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.

28. Negotiation Strategies
Strategy 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.

29. Negotiation Strategies
Strategy 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.

30. Negotiation Strategies
Strategy Approach
Good Guy/Bad Guy
The good guy / bad guy is an
internationally used strategy. One Based on your
member of a team takes a hard line experience on the
approach while other member is field, how would
friendly and easy to deal with. you act out the good
When bad guy steps out for a few guy/bad guy
strategy to your
minutes, the good guy offers the deal
favour?
that under the circumstances seems too
good to refuse. Bad guys usually
comprise spouses, lawyers etc.

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

32. 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.

33. Communication Skills

34. 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

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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.

40. 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.

41. Non-verbal
Communication
Feelings and
emotions received
from others through
their body actions
Symbolic Vibes
Paralanguage Kinesics
How something is said
instead of what is said i.e. Facial expressions, body
volume, rate and gestures, dress etc.
rhythm, silent pauses, sighs
etc.

42. 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

43. 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?

44. The Ball is in Your Court…
 Go on and practice these negotiation strategies to
become effective sales people!!!