What Resistance are You Trying to Overcome?
In my work as a sales and negotiation skills speaker, I tell my audiences that before anyone sits down with a client to negotiate a sale, chances are that 70 percent of the research has already been done.
More Than “Getting to Yes”
The popular thinking in sales used to be that the “sales guy” needed to come up with a great pitch, and then barrel ahead and make the sale – even if you didn’t believe in the product. That proposition has radically shifted.
Ryan Robinson writing for Forbes put it best:
“As a business owner or sales leader, you need to have a firm conviction that your product or service solves a meaningful problem for your customers. This gives you the passion and insight necessary to successfully sell to others. You need to fully understand how your product or service makes a difference so you can have confidence when you promise results.”
Good negotiation leads to change. The negotiation is about the other 30 percent, the part of the sale that helps your customer overcome resistance. In fact, I make the point as a sales and negotiation skills motivational speaker, that a good negotiation doesn’t so much sell a product or service, it sells change.
Who Wants to Change?
When we come down to it, no one is thrilled by the prospect of change. Many organizations are afraid to change and yet they know they can’t stay where they are. This is the core proposition of many a negotiation.
Why are we resistant to changing the obvious? Even situations that are unsustainable often feel better than our striking out in a new direction. I think it is because we humans are creatures of habit. Writer and lawyer Michael Volkov recently wrote:
“Organizations are comprised of human actors and in the end are defined by human values. In other words, humans make mistakes and so do companies. Where things get sticky is when we face challenges and companies, like human, need to change.”
This is what a good negotiator needs to always keep in mind. You are selling to people and not to machines. Machines don’t feel fear (not yet, anyway), people do. They need help in overcoming their resistance.
If as, Ryan Robinson suggests, “your product or service solves a meaningful problem for your customers,” give them a heartfelt reason why. Help them understand why the change you propose is good and give them a reason – on a human level – to trust you.
Volkov talked about “humans making mistakes and so do companies.” The person who is sitting across from you is trying to overcome their resistance, perhaps after being burned by a bad product or service. In the forefront of their thinking, is the troubling idea that if they change, they may fail again. It is a heavy burden. How will you help remove that burden?
What is the party you are negotiating with trying to overcome? As a sales and negotiation skills speaker, I know that closing any sales is much more than getting to yes. It is helping to push aside resistance to get to a point of mutual understanding, trust and respect.
Book Mike Hourigan, Sales & Negotiation Skills Motivational Speaker, for a virtual or in-person presentation. Contact Mike today at (704) 875-3030 or fill out the form below.
