Several people have asked me how I got such high Google rankings for my blog so quickly. I would like to think it is due to the fantastic content but it may have more to do with following expert advice. I simply implemented tactics described in my CEO executive coaching client Raj Khera‘s blog and got impressive results.
Here are the details:
How many new sales do you need to recover the cash lost in just one poor negotiation? If your net margin is 10%, you would need $1,000 in new business just to cover the deficit from giving away a single $100 discount.
Every dollar that poor negotiating removes from your price is a dollar of pure profit lost; free cash flow you have utterly wasted.
The most shameful part is, because you failed to negotiate well, the customer didn’t even appreciate the bargain you gave away.
Everybody lost!
I have read a lot about negotiation and even written a little, but most of the literature is for buyers trying to get better price and terms. Advice for the other side of the table, the salesperson, is harder to find. My executive coaching client, Raj Khera, CEO of MailerMailer, has just put a superb, free guide for business owners on his blog. Titled Negotiating price: how to overcome price resistance, Raj’s post is concise and practical. Apply his simple advice and increase your profits.
Don’t confuse hard negotiating with heartless negotiating. A deal that doesn’t make sense for everyone makes sense for no one.
Always leave some money on the table.
Never spill blood on the floor.
You may need to return to that room again.
I am a great fan of the social networking site for professionals, LinkedIn. It is a powerful business tool. While discussing its use and value with a group of business people whom I was coaching, I made a promise to write recommendations for everyone in the group.
I was, as usual, feeling drained and tired by the time I got back to my office after facilitating the executive coaching session. I wanted to keep my word, so I spent about an hour writing 30-50 word referrals for each of these clients and posting them on LinkedIn. Then I got on with my usual work.
I noticed that something important that night; (more…)
Only the modern age’s conviction that man can know only what he makes, that his allegedly higher capacities depend upon making and that he therefore is primarily homo faber and not an animal rationale, brought forth the much older implications of violence inherent in all interpretations of the realm of human affairs as a sphere of making. [p. 228]
We are perhaps the first generation which has become fully aware of the murderous consequences inherent in (more…)
People think in stories. No, that’s not the important thing. People feel in stories. Feelings (emotions) help people decide, buy, stay loyal, and refer new customers.
“One of the things Whole Foods taught us is the need to tell stories” about our products, Mr. Heinen said. In fact, Heinen’s has 50 stories that it trains employees to tell customers about its meat, produce, baked goods and other items.
Tom Heinen
Heinen’s Fine Foods in
The New York Times
What stories are your customers and prospective customers hearing about you?
See also, Creation Myths and Why We Need Them: Origins.
It’s not what you say that makes the sale,
it’s what you hear.
See also: One More Question on this blog.
Establish the habit of slowing down your responses to questions, to save time and trouble. A simple and effective way to do this is by training yourself to respond to every question with a clarifying question. This gives the questioner a chance to explain why they asked and what they are trying to accomplish. You’ll be surprised how often the quick answer you might have given would not have helped them –or you– at all.
Suppose, for example, you shipped that big report yesterday, just as you had promised. Today the client telephones and asks, “Have you (more…)
Three versions. One contemporary, the second hundreds of years old, and the third thousands. One colloquial, the other literary, the last allegorical. The same abiding wisdom.
One:
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.
The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life.”
The American interrupted, “I have (more…)
You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar:
The Sandlr Sales Institute’s 7-Step System for Successful Selling
by David H. Sandlr, John Hayes
I put off reading this book for months. Reading another how-to, self-help autobiography was like a trip to the gym: I knew I should, but it could always wait. Most sales trainers left me with a simple pair of thoughts: that stuff would really work–if I could force myself to do it! The Sandlr System leaves me with: this stuff works–and it feels natural!
The book is very professionally written: not literature just clear, concise and readable. A lively mix of (more…)
Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way from Confrontation to Cooperation by William L. Ury
A practical guidebook to “Win-Win” negotiation.
William Ury is not only an experienced high-level negotiator but an acute student of his art who can distill his wisdom into concise, memorable lessons. This book is indispensable for anyone who wants to do well in negotiations, formal or informal, without humiliating or destroying the other side. For Ury and his disciples, Win-Win is not a feel-good aspiration but a profitable practice. As a negotiation style that builds relationships while getting things done, Win-Win is a cornerstone of the “Sustainable Workstyles” we teach at MayoGenuine.
A key insight of his method is the possibility of being “soft on the people, hard on the problem.” Negotiation is so often associated with macho words like “bruising,” “hard-nosed,” and “marathon” that it is easy to forget negotiation is not war pursued by other means. We negotiate as an alternative to battle, not as another version of it. Everyone wants (more…)
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