The fastest way to close a sale starts with adding the right negotiation skills to your toolkit. These skills help you guide an interested prospect through the concerns that can get in the way of a deal. The following are key strategies, insights, and tips to help you close a sale:
1. Prepare for Smooth Sailing
The best defense against a tough negotiation is a good offense to mitigate the need. Difficult negotiations result when you haven’t been able to effectively convey the value of a solution to a buyer in a way that justifies the requested price. First, contact prospects that are well-qualified. Then, ask strong probing questions to learn the full scope and depth of the prospect’s problem. Finally, communicate the most compelling benefits to address the problem. Have confidence that the benefits you provide far outweigh the price point.
2. Know Your Superior Benefits
In addition to your own solutions, you need a strong sense of competitive offerings for successful negotiation. Awareness of your superior benefits helps you point to their exclusive nature when you get into the back-and-forth of negotiations. Again, by listening well to the motives and concerns of your prospect, you can more effectively lay out why your superior benefits are the obvious best choice.
3. Have a Win-win Attitude
It is a mistake to view negotiations as a “you versus me exchange.” Instead, make a win-win outcome your priority. This simple adjustment to your attitude can cause you to listen with more empathy to the prospect’s point of view. Note the price or terms that you need for a satisfactory deal. Then collaborate with the buyer in a process aimed at constructing the deal in a way that meets the needs of both parties.
4. Establish a Sense of Urgency
In addition to a general need for your solution, determine early on whether your prospect has a sense of urgency to make a purchase. If you engage in negotiations when a buyer isn’t eager, you put them in the driver’s seat. For instance, someone who can barely drag a car to a dealership is more eager to make a deal than someone driving a well-oiled machine. Lean on the sense of urgency and include your ability to deliver a solution efficiently as part of the value you offer.
5. Accept You Can’t Win ‘Em All
The fact is you’re not going to always close every deal, and that’s OK. If you enter negotiations under the premise that a deal is necessary, you will have a hard time holding your ground on the value you provide. In some cases, a prospect just isn’t willing to agree to a price and terms that match with what you can deliver. You might find that the prospect walks away from the table only to return when their need is more urgent or when he realizes a better value isn’t available.
Conclusion
These strategies for improving your negotiation skills to close a deal. The more you know about your prospects and the value you can provide, the more equipped you are for successful negotiations! Salesgenie can help you identify and target your ideal customers; start your free trial today!
