The ultimate pie in the sky.

The sweetest post-meeting feeling.

The win-win.

It’s the goal of successful negotiations.

Win-win strategies and tactics are what every sales rep needs as they enter sales negotiations.

How can they walk out with everyone being triumphant?

There are a few essential shifts.

Ditch the “Me vs. Them” Mentality

Aggression is the go-to mode for many sales reps. Stake the claim. Draw the line in the sand. Come in swinging.

This is especially true when dealing with negotiations: people play to win.

True.

The caveat: all of them do. The other guy too.

Combat does not achieve consensus.

Ask any military professional in history. Somebody gets forced to do it “our way.” Somebody loses.

Concessions are essential if reps are going to come out of a negotiation with everyone feeling like a winner. 

This is give and take.

We call it Drop the Rope™.

It has nothing to do with giving up or giving in. It has everything to do with releasing tension. Just get rid of it. It has no place in a thoughtful discussion about what’s best for two parties. In fact, it actively undermines the process.

Reps who are hellbent on maintaining their stance, regardless of how hard they have to pull, will not succeed with modern buyers.

This is not an “us versus them” exchange. We’re all on the same side. And we can all win.

Be Objective

“Just the facts.”

Facts are a powerful currency in sales negotiations, and reps should come in packed to the hilt with the right information.

Effective prospecting and discovery are mission-critical to set the stage for negotiations. Reps need to learn what’s on a customer’s whiteboard (what they care about/what their priorities are). They need to understand the market conditions, the company’s situation, and the climate. 

There is a host of information-gathering that makes negotiations successful. The better prepared reps are, the more they can present standardized criteria, objective metrics, and a pragmatic message.

The prospective buyer may counter with emotion or opinion or other things, but they can’t directly deny facts.

Provide Options

A win-win strategy should include options. 

Sales reps are wizzes at positioning, ensuring the ideal next move is readily available and the best of all the choices they’re laying out. That sales skill is relevant in negotiations too.

Many reps prepare for negotiations by considering what they’re willing to concede, give, or add on in case more incentives are needed. 

But it’s important that, in the interest of win-win, they’re also prepared for multiple outcomes and possibilities.

This means real options, not just fabricated or perceived ones. It is an authentic distribution of control, where no one is making all of the decisions and everyone meets halfway. Win win.

Don’t Get Hung Up on Positions

When negotiations are presented like war — and they often are — it’s all about rank. Position. Power.

But the chance of an extreme power imbalance leading to a mutual win is low.

People recognize and resent the power play. They can just walk away. Many of them will. It’s an unappealing relationship and, with more options than ever, it’s onto the next before a rep has had time to slam dunk over them.

Some of your sharpest sales reps, the high-performers, may have a little shark in them. They’re great at sniffing out opportunities. They’re skilled at spotting the alpha decision maker. And they inherently want the position of power in a negotiation.

But in today’s business environment, where buyers are super savvy and have little time, getting hung on positions and power is a negotiation mistake.

Reps who are dedicated to due diligence, genuinely understanding a buyer’s needs, and a reasonable and effective communication about the solution will encounter far less need to exert power and control. Negotiations will be working out the details, because everyone is on the same side.

Stop Keeping Score

Your shark-like reps are probably also masters of scorekeeping. Sales is built on the idea of keeping score, compensation based on performance, and racking up those wins. Which is great. Many people are highly motivated by that structure and it works… in the right context.

The negotiation room is not one of those contexts.

Here’s the thing: scorekeeping is all about winning against something:

• Beating last quarter
• Crushing the quota
• Scoring against an opponent

It’s in the concept.

So if reps head into a negotiation with this thinking, it automatically conditions for a win/lose. Even subconsciously.

There is no “point for me” or “point for them” along the way.

This is a tricky balance because, of course, the negotiation will progress in a way that may appear to favor one party over another. 

The key is to have decided on the best possible outcome. Then, negotiation is about the details of how that outcome is reached. Not who ultimately scores enough points to win over the other party.

This is an important paradigm shift if reps are going to effectively and consistently achieve win-win negotiation outcomes.

Successful Negotiation, Win-Win Strategies, and the Paradigms That Shift

We believe that most of a rep’s problems can be tracked back to belief.

• What do they believe about themselves?
• About what their role is?
• About how they’re going to succeed?

Most reps have deeply flawed beliefs about what sales is and how it should play out in the real world. Most have just gone heads down, continuing to use old strategies in a new world.

We can change that for them.

Connect with our team to learn how ASLAN gets to the root problems companies face and equips a team of high-performing reps to go out and win… win.

Ready to dive deeper into sales negotiation? Read this next: The Complete Guide to Sales Negotiation