You’re negotiating with a customer – in person or on the phone. You’ve won the deal – a long slog. You’ve set them up well with your pricing, and you are going to get some good value for the deal. The customer chooses you, and then asks one question, “Is there anything else you can do on the price? We need some help here?”
Part of me wondered what you would say when you are rocking out your quota. You’re at 120% of the year – the deals are rolling in – you’re the top salesperson on the team. This deal is one you maybe did not expect to come in, but here you are.
Then, I thought about another salesperson. Way behind on quota – deals are hard to come by – the economy stinks – customers are going bankrupt – things look pretty bleak. You’ve been working this deal for months, and you finally have it where you want it.
So, do you do something different in these different cases? My gut tells me in both cases that you make some concession. The concession has got to be contingent on a quick sign, but you don’t want to focus too much on how you did not concede anything.
In the first case, you’ve got a good thing going. I bet your attitude is coming through to the customer. They know you are doing well. A good call here is to give the customer something – you can afford it, right? More important to me is that both sides come out with a win, and they take it forward in the relationship.
In the second case, you do need this deal, and you probably cannot recover your whole year on a single deal. Most salespeople I see need a variety of deals to come in to succeed, so offer the discount and put this one in the win column. The next deal you do, I bet you have a more positive attitude and do not come across as someone who is zero-sum…all win and no lose.
As I write this post, I feel all kinds of hesitation in what I am writing. I know part of selling is the “win,” the “close,” the fist-pump. It feels good to get the order, parade around the office, and tell everyone how you “closed it.”
Enjoying the win is great, but this selling stuff ultimately is not about you and your wins. It’s more about your customer wins and your attitude going forward after this deal. If you come out with a positive win, you’ll go into the next deal looking to do the same. I bet that next customer will be excited to work with you (and you’ll get an even bigger deal).
