“Use ‘SPEAR’ To Negotiate Sales Successfully”

“Use ‘SPEAR’ To Negotiate Sales Successfully”

 

In the sales profession, one has to be very aware of one’s demeanor in the selling process. After all, the selling process is nothing more than a series of negotiations. There’s give and take and the way you give or take sets a pattern for future engagements. The give and take also gives life to what will occur as you delve deeper into your current selling process. The way you position yourself, the image you project, and to whom you cast such projections are major factors in determining the level of success you’ll achieve.

If you want to be more successful in the selling process, you need to use a negotiation checklist to determine how you’ll position, present, and progress the negotiation?

The following information is a set of thoughts that you can employ prior to, during, and at the close of a negotiation. The acronym is “SPEAR” and it represents a mindset you can adopt and employ to be more potent during the selling process.

• Setup

In the beginning of the sale cycle, be cautious when making concessions. If you make concessions too quickly, you’ll create an environment in which a good negotiator will pressure you for more concessions as the sales process progresses. Make your client or prospect feel as though he won something that he had to earn to obtain his gain. The more he feels like he won or earned a concession, the more he’ll find value in it. Balance this thought against the type of individual he is (i.e. easy going, combative, amenable). Thus, if he is easy going, you would not want to make him work too hard to gain the concession he seeks. Do so just enough to make him feel he deserved what he received.

• Perception (whose is best, yours or the other negotiator?)

Prior to meeting with the client or prospect, consider how you wish him to view you and how he wishes to be viewed. His perceptions should be based in part on the type of personality that he possesses. If he takes a win-win, let’s be fair perspective, you should position yourself as an individual of like-mindedness. If he happens to be someone that enjoys the game of negotiations, be prepared to project the image of someone that will ‘give him a good game’, but stake out your boundaries such that you don’t give him the perception that you’re easy.

Another perspective of perception is determining how value will be perceived. Thus, you should attempt to view value through his eyes. If you align your perspective of value in the manner as he, you’ll have a clearer sight for how to entice him to move in one direction versus another. As an example, some people might be moved by the value proposition of, ten for a $1, while others might be moved by ten at $0.10 each. Sometimes, the same can be different!

• Energy

In a negotiation, there’s a flow of energy that pulsates between those involved in the negotiation. The same is true in the process of a sale. In order to keep the energy at a level that is conducive for a good engagement, determine how you will utilize your body.

In using your body as an aide, you can match the pace at which the other person speaks, sit in a similar manner as he does, and mimic his gestures. Some good negotiators will go so far as to breath at the same pace as the other person (all of this is called mirroring – It sets a subliminal mindset in the other person that states you’re like him). By performing such gestures, your level of energy will match your client and the mood will be set for a more positive negotiation.

• Assumptions

Assumptions can wreak havoc on a negotiation, especially when they’re inaccurate. When you have inaccurate assumptions about another individual, you might attempt to address him from a point of view that is not conducive to him viewing your offerings with the intent you expected. All of this can lead to wasted time, effort, and an outcome that’s fraught with despair.

In order to combat such dilemmas, be as accurate about your assumptions of your client’s demeanor, how he behaves in certain situations and what motivates him by building a dossier of his actions and responses over the time you spend with him. Over a long period, such observations will serve you well.

• Rules of Engagement

People like to be addressed based on what makes them most comfortable. When it comes to engaging your client in the process of a sale, sell him based on how he’s made such acquisitions in the past. If he needs reassurances about the outcome, allay his fears. If he needs to be viewed as a conquering hero to his superiors, appeal to his vanity when describing how the outcome of the sale will make him appear decisive and beneficial to his superiors. In essence, engage him in the manner that best suits his needs and sell from that perspective.

When engaged in the process of a sale, you need to utilize as many tools as possible in order to be successful. You must strive to give your client what he desires, wants, and needs, while at the same time achieving your goals. At the intersection of this junction lies the opportunity for more current business and more repeat business in the future. By adding SPEAR to your toolbox repertoire, you will enhance the probability of closing more sales, at a higher price point, and to the satisfaction of everyone involved … and everything will be right with the world. Remember, you’re always negotiating.

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Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

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