BUSINESS TALK
Sales negotiationlessons from the Egyptians
In this article, leading sales expert ANDY PRESTON explains why most salespeople struggle when it comes to negotiations (and in particular negotiating over their price)… and how some simple negotiation lessons can be learned from the Egyptians…
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khan el-khalili, a trading zone where there are many small, independently owned shops where you can buy local goods, gifts and souvenirs. The main business in the area is tourism, so therefore the shopkeepers are pretty well practiced at getting tourists into the shop, and trying to sell everything in the shop to them (or maybe it just feels like that) at the highest price possible. Watching these guys operate is like watching masters at work.
Itʼs fascinating. They are old hands at bartering, trading and negotiating – why? Because they do it every day. They know what their potential buyers are going to say often before it comes out of their mouths. Everything they say is designed to give them the upper hand in the negotiation.
So what lessons can we learn from the Egyptians that will help us in our negotiations?
Lesson No.1 – Be prepared for the negotiation How prepared do you think those Egyptian traders were for their negotiations? And how prepared are you for yours? Your first answer is probably something like fairly prepared. Think again. Has there ever been a time when someone has said to you “how much is that?” or “how much do you charge?” and youʼve not handled that with confidence and certainty? How often have you mumbled a price? Or worse still, gone in at a lower price than youʼd want to charge, and justified it to yourself as you need the business? Youʼve just found yourself in the middle of a price negotiation – unprepared.
Lesson No.2 – Think about what you want This is essential before going into any negotiation. How often do you find yourself in the middle of a negotiation without any idea of what you actually want from it? I donʼt mean what youʼd like to have, I mean a solid, tangible outcome that you want to achieve? Your minimum expectation from the negotiation otherwise you walk away? What your anticipated outcome is and why the other side should agree to that? If you havenʼt got this sorted before your negotiation starts,
youʼre setting yourself up to fail. Not to mention giving the other side everything they want… at your expense. In the example of the Egyptian traders, do you think theyʼve thought about what they want, even before theyʼve started the negotiation with you? Of course they have.
Lesson No.3 – Think about what the other side might want Not only should you be thinking about what you want, but also what the other side might want. What do you know about them so far? What might they be looking for from this negotiation? What have they been tasked with achieving by their bosses?
ast time I was in Egypt, I was working with a well-known, multi-national IT company. On the last afternoon of the course, we went into the
Another thing worth thinking about is what are their alternatives to dealing with you, or continuing dealing with you? Far too often salespeople go into a negotiation without thinking what the other sideʼs possible options are – and end of agreeing to something that they never should have done – only to find out later that the other side was in a weaker position. Doh. When you study the Egyptian traders, theyʼve already thought about what you might want. Theyʼve asked you questions about what youʼre looking for – they find it (and if they donʼt have it, theyʼll get it off another stall to sell it to you) and therefore theyʼre in a very strong negotiation position. Theyʼve asked you what you want, provided it, and now all they have to do is achieve the price they want. Simple.
Lesson No.4 – Use time to your advantage Time can be a big advantage to you in a negotiation – if you use it wisely. You can speed things up to put pressure on the other side. You can slow things down to give you the advantage if the other side has some time pressure to conclude the negotiations (think car salesperson at the end of the month). Alternatively, donʼt be afraid to postpone negotiations if you feel youʼre not ready.
The Egyptian traders are great at this. They know you donʼt have a lot of time to shop at the different places in the market. They know that you have more than likely come to the market to buy souvenirs. They know that you donʼt want to go home empty handed, so if they make it easy for you, you will buy. Follow the tips above and watch for the massive improvement in your negotiations. I look forward to hearing about your successes!
For help and advice call 0161 401 0142 or visit
www.andypreston.co.uk | 82 | August 2015
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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