Enigin Help - Negotiate the Final Deal
Often Enigin Distributors and Enigin Partners find themselves in negotiations, which can often be frustrating, especially if you already feel as if you’ve “closed the deal.”
However, as Enigin always teach their Distributors that the deal isn’t really closed until the final contract is signed, and it’s that final contract that comes out of the negotiation process.
These posts, with the help of bnet.com, provides a step by step formula for negotiating a final deal.
This is a skill that every sales professional must absolutely master, but beyond that, it’s a crucial skill for anybody who wants to be successful in the business world.
6: Stonewall Last Minute Demands
The purpose of the negotiating process is to reach a contract or a written agreement, and the negotiation isn’t over until it is signed.
Even so, there’s a point in every negotiation where the deal is pretty much what it’s going to be. If you’ve found that you’ve gotten pretty much what you wanted, don’t sweat the stuff that you didn’t get. When you’ve reached that point, it’s time to stop.
Sometimes last-minute demands magically appear after a negotiation has been completed. They’re usually positioned as “deal breakers” but most of the time they’re something else altogether-a simple test to ensure that the negotiated deal is the best possible agreement.
Unfortunately, many sales pros simply give in to such demands, because it seems as if the prospect-the person with the money-holds all the power.
Giving in to any last-minute demand is a huge mistake, because here’s what’s going to happen:
- Your prospect makes a last-minute demand.
- You don’t want to lose the sale, so you run back to your management to see whether you can get that demand met.
- After a lot of extra work, you get internal agreement, and then you run back to the prospect with the good news, expecting to close the deal.
- Surprise! Your prospect now has another, even bigger demand.
- You run back, and after even more hard work, get agreement.
- You go back to the prospect, hoping to close the deal.
- Surprise! Another demand!
- Etc.
This process continues until your prospect makes a demand that your management can’t stomach, in which case one of two things happens. Either the deal falls through, turning your hard work into a complete waste of time and money, or the deal gets signed but is a headache for your firm.
If last-minute demands crop up, hold firm to your position. In most cases, the customer will be relieved at this confirmation of your legitimacy and will take the demands off the table. Here’s an example:
- You: Well, I think we’re done here. We’ve got the basic terms in place and we have a start date.
- CFO: I’ll need to check with the CEO to make sure we can go forward. I’ll give him a call. [Leaves the room]
- CFO: [Returns] He says we’ll need you to go 20 percent lower or the deal is off.
- You: Gosh, that’s too bad, because I’ve already given you the best price that I can. I’m really sorry that we can’t make this happen. [Get up to leave]
- CFO: Just a second. [Leaves to make another call]
- CFO: [Returns] Let’s go forward. The CEO says he just wanted to make sure he was getting the best deal.
Is it that simple?
Yes, indeed. In almost every case, the other party will be visibly relieved that you refused to give in, because it proves that you were being honest from the start, which is what is really being tested.
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