What if your sales team could anticipate 97% of what's coming their way during sales negotiations?
Surprising research tells us negotiating boils down to only
two main tactics that cover 97% of what will happen in each and every
negotiation.
The Sales Negotiations Research
Our sales negotiation experts have been on a relentless
pursuit to determine if negotiation tactics followed any kind of predictable
pattern or if negotiation is truly as random and unpredictable as most
companies think.
The research took over three years in nineteen countries,
involved Fortune 500 firms from a wide range of industries and ended with a
collection of the "most difficult" and "most common"
verbal negotiation tactics.
The results surprised us. While negotiations often feel
unpredictable and challenging, 97% of the verbal tactics used globally
followed a very predictable pattern that could be reduced to just two main
propositions.
Just think about what this means for sales teams and sales
negotiation training, coaching and preparation.
Typical Situations
Most of our clients who are looking to improve their ability
to negotiate are facing intensified pricing pressure, increased deal
complexity, longer sales cycles, more internal and external stakeholders and
roadblocks, greater competition, and more challenges quantifying their value,
impact or differentiation in a way that matters to the buyer
These situations are exemplified by four common client quotes
uncovered by the research:
Do any of these sound suspiciously familiar? Did you know they
are all basically code for "I
can get the same thing cheaper somewhere else?"
It takes a little practice, but eventually you can recognize
these seemingly disparate tactics as variations on a theme with two main
elements.
"So, what does all this mean?" We think it means a total redefinition and simplification of B2B sales negotiation. It changes how negotiation courses should be taught; it changes how you and your sales team should prepare for negotiation; it changes how you should capture data in your organization; and it changes the results you can expect from negotiations. If we can successfully anticipate 97% of what's coming our way, we can better prepare for and change the nature of the negotiation with our customers. This data flies in the face of how virtually every negotiation writer and consultant thinks about negotiation. For example, there is a book out now by a distinguished Business School Professor entitled 53 Negotiation Truths. How does any individual negotiator or company prepare and build competency in as many as 53 truths? Another example is a recent ad in Selling Power Magazine. It included no less than 5 lessons, 9 important methods, 7 key behaviors, and 12 predictions. While the ad only had 33 items to be concerned about vs. the 53 in the book, can an individual or an organization truly optimize and adopt 33 items? |
Voice of the Customer
"LSA Global's sales negotiation training and consulting
provided the tools and practices that have significantly enhanced our win
rate. Their team understood our business, its challenges and framed the
learning in a way that we understood. I am very happy with the value we have
received, and would highly recommend LSA to others looking to improve their
sales negotiations results."
Jeff Bizzack | President | ServiceSource
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Founded in 1995, LSA Global is a leading performance consulting and training firm that helps high growth technology, services, and life-science companies create a competitive advantage by powerfully aligning their culture and talent with their strategy. Learn more about getting aligned
