We've all been there before...I know that I have.

A deal looks good, until suddenly, your prospect comes to you with some final (more on that later in this blog post) requests for accommodations on deal structure, deal pricing, delivery, etc. 

So now what do you do? 

You have worked so hard to get the deal to this point…surely you don’t want to lose it now.  But then again you were confident of your position and now that confidence is just a bit shaken.  What if you tell your prospect no? 

Will the deal crash?

Coaching salespeople for the last 12 years has caused me to conclude that most salespeople are not very effective at what Objective Management Group calls the negotiator competency.  The competency includes the following 11 elements:

• Seeks win/win
• Willing to walk
• Manages appropriate amount of patience
• Able to listen & ask questions with ease
• Controls emotions
• Goal oriented
• Problem solver
• Doesn’t need to be liked
• Rejection proof
• Sells value over price
• Comfortable discussing money

In my judgment, the most powerful of these elements is the willingness of the salesperson to walk away.  Of course, that presumes the salesperson has another deal to walk away to.  As my colleague, Jack Kasel here at Anthony Cole Training Group says, “Weak pipelines make cowards of us all.”  Even the most courageous of salespeople have a hard time walking away (even when they should) if the pipeline is on the thin side.

I have enjoyed reading the excellent book by Chris Voss titled Never Spit the Difference and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  Here is just one nugget from Chris:

No deal is better than a bad deal.

Even with a thin pipeline.  Even with the pressure that is on you to produce.  Remember that an outcome of no deal is always better than the outcome of a bad deal.  And what about the last call from the prospect asking for an accommodation?  Here is my advice.  Assuming you need to go to someone higher up to get the prospect’s request approved…and assuming you want to give the accommodation…ask your prospect what happens if the accommodation is approved?  Where does that leave us?

Never go seeking the accommodation unless you know exactly where you will stand if the accommodation is granted.  Otherwise it might be in your best interest to walk.

Mark Trinkle

Chief Growth Officer

Anthony Cole Training, LLC

Today’s buyer isn’t your grandpa’s, or even your dad’s, buyer.  They are coming to you much deeper into the sales process, meaning they are much more aware and informed than ever before.

As a sales rep, if you discuss things they can find on your company's website or discover themselves, how valuable are you? 

Should you choose to believe it was the Department of Defense or Al Gore that invented the internet, let’s just suppose that the internet did not exist today.  What would your client need to do to get information about your product or service?

1. Talk to a friend, family member, or co-worker
2. Do some research in trade magazines
3. OR talk to a salesperson

Should they choose option three, the salesperson could discuss the product’s Features, Benefits, and Advantages, along with price and service guarantees.  All the things salespeople like to discuss.  Sadly (or not) the internet does exist, so the question I have for my brothers and sisters in sales is this . . .

Why in the world would you waste time talking about things that your prospect can find on the internet?

Today’s Buyer isn’t your grandpa’s, or even your dad’s, buyer.  They are coming to you much deeper into the sales process, meaning they are much more aware and informed than ever before. We believe if you are talking about you, your company, or your products and services too early in the sales process, you’ve lost.  Guess what?   If they are interested in that “stuff”, they will look it up.  Here’s are two things every prospect or suspect is thinking about when you call on them:

• The goals they want to accomplish
• The challenges they face in overcoming those goals

If you discuss things they can find on a website or figure out themselves, how valuable are you?  How different are you?  How memorable are you?  Yesterday’s buyer would tolerate you telling them things because that was the only way they could learn. 

Today’s buyer needs much more from you.