The Negotiator in You: Sales

By Joshua N. Weiss

The Negotiator in You: Sales is an audiobook specifically geared to people who sell anything and everything. Salespeople negotiate constantly with prospective and existing clients, and internally with bosses and representatives of other divisions. Moreover, salespeople are vulnerable to external forces that either enhance or severely limit their efforts during negotiations. In this audiobook, salespeople will learn to overcome the following key challenges: short-term gratification (making the sale) vs. long-term (building the relationship); giving away more than necessary; taking lessons from one negotiation and transferring them; negotiating up, down, and sideways; mapping the players and getting alignment; ensuring that an agreement makes sense for you and your company; retaining your profit margin and still getting the deal done; and dealing with difficult customers—while still making the sale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Release date: Jan 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781620643792

Joshua N. Weiss

Joshua N. Weiss is the cofounder of the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University. He received his PhD from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in 2002. Weiss has published extensively on negotiation and is an internationally recognized speaker and trainer on negotiation at the organizational, corporate, government, and international levels.

Book preview

THE NEGOTIATOR IN YOU: SALES

Joshua N. Weiss, Ph.D.

AUDIOGO, RHODE ISLAND

Also available in this series in an audiobook and ebook:

Negotiator in You: At Work

Negotiator in You: In Life

Negotiator in You: At Home

Copyright © 2012 by Josh Weiss

All rights reserved. Ebook © 2012 by AudioGO

Chivers North America, Inc., Rhode Island

AudioGO and colophon are registered

Trademarks of Chivers North America, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weiss, Joshua, 2013

The negotiator in you: sales / Joshua Weiss.

Trade ISBN 978-1-62064-379-2

Library ISBN 978-0-7927-9439-4

www.audiogo.com

Designed in the United States of America

Cover photo © simonmcconico/iStock.com

First Edition

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ONE The Unsolvable Dichotomy

TWO Negotiating with Yourself

THREE The Challenge of Transference of Experience

FOUR Negotiating Up, Down, and Sideways:

Mapping the Players and Getting Alignment

FIVE Wait. Hold It.

No Agreement is a Good Thing?

SIX Dealing with a Difficult Person and Still Making the Sale

SEVEN Places of Value in the Sale:

Not Just the Price!

EIGHT Starting at the End of the Road:

Some Crazy Wisdom

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

There may be no singular profession—short of diplomat—where people negotiate as much as salesmen and women. The majority of their work, from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed at night, is how to make their next sale. One of the core skills associated with effective selling is negotiation. It is not only useful that salespeople find the Negotiator in You, but rather, in this increasingly competitive world where we live, it is simply essential.

As I have worked with different types of salespeople over the years I have been struck by how much they pride themselves on being problem solvers. For many salespeople, the roadblocks created by clients, are seen simply as a challenge to be overcome. This mindset is incredibly valuable for any negotiator. As William Shakespeare affirms, All things are ready, if our minds be so.

And yet a curious thing happens to many a salesperson’s mind when the pressure is turned up in negotiations. Their problem solving approach often shifts toward a more closed way of looking at the situation. This shift is akin to the Chinese proverb, which states, A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood. Clearly that does not help much in a negotiation. It follows that if there is one issue that salespeople need to work on, it is the challenge of shelving the creative mind when the pressure is on in negotiation.

Of course, salespeople are not homogeneous by any means. The factors separating them are numerous. What people sell makes a very big difference in their approach to negotiation. And what their sales cycle looks like also has a vital impact on their strategy and methodology. That said, there are some universal truths regarding negotiation that all salespeople need to know. The following four truths are essential elements of any sales negotiation.

First, information is the currency of negotiation. The road to a successful negotiation is paved with information that negotiators share and are able to cull from each other. The more information you gather, the more informed you are regarding the other’s interests and how to help them say yes to what you are trying to achieve. So think of your job in negotiation as an investigator trying to gather as much information as you can. This first point is related to the second because the way to gather information is not by talking, but by listening.

Second, listening is the most cost-effective concession you can make to the other negotiator in