Chapter Summary and Questions
The chapter focuses on negotiating a win-win deal between the seller and the buyer to reach a point where the two parties’ interests are met. Sellers should develop effective negotiating skills since they work with knowledgeable customers who evaluate alternatives to establish the one that offers the best value for their money. Therefore, successful sellers should prepare to address buyer concerns before they meet to secure a sale. The chapter provides recommendations for effective strategies for anticipating and negotiating the concerns, considering the need to create value in the customer’s eyes. Sellers should be prepared to deal with some challenging problems, such as angry customers regarding pricing, skepticism regarding sourcing and timing, and how to keep the conversation civil to secure the sale. Therefore, the chapter information challenges sellers to learn how to and the value of the negotiation process.
Negotiation is a process that buyers should learn to become effective in addressing customer concerns. The chapter recommends various steps to take to become a great negotiator. A buyer should plan a formal negotiation by collecting adequate information about the product and anticipate counterarguments. The second step is deciding team versus individual negotiations for involved parties. The seller should then understand the value of what they are offering to the customer to negotiate successfully. Goals and financial objectives are critical in the negotiation process. Other important steps are having an agenda, reviewing adaptive selling styles, and preparing a negotiation worksheet. After preparing for the negotiation process, the chapter moves on to the actual action. The author recommends that during the negotiation session, the seller should understand the problem, create alternatives that add value to the customer, review the points of agreement, and ensuring the right time is spent during the process. A successful negotiator should know when to walk away from the process, hopefully after convincing the buyer to buy the product or service.
Depending on the buyer’s concern or problem in question, the seller should know the best approach to solve it and secure a sale. The chapter includes numerous methods of negotiating buyer concerns that sellers can use to address a problem successfully. Direct denial is one of the methods that involves refuting the prospect’s belief or opinion. Indirect denial is another approach used when the prospect is somewhat correct. The approach involves bending some facts to acknowledge that the other party is partly correct. Feel-felt-found is a useful approach when the buyer presents a cue suggesting a feeling that something is wrong. The approach involves sympathizing with the customer to put them at ease and bring them to the seller’s side. Other methods include asking questions, demonstrating superior benefits, offering goods for trial, third-party testimony, and postponing strategy. The seller should always use the most appropriate method depending on the customer’s concern or the presenting problem. Furthermore, the negotiator could combine the method based on the complexity of the situation. Generally, the chapter recommends that sellers develop negotiating skills to add value to the customer by selling products or services that meet their needs.
Questions
- Mr Cernar, has marketing played any role in your success in business?
- Which is one of the situations that your marketing success depended on effective negation?
- Can you say you have achieved all your personal and career goals?
- How can you rate your relationship with the clients in your business.