An Absurdly Easy Negotiating Trick

Getting to the proverbial "win-win" situation requires getting everyone on the same team.

shutterstock images

Negotiations become difficult (or even impossible) when one or both parties view the negotiation as a conflict between two positions, where the person who abandons his position is the "loser" and the person who sticks to his position is the "winner."

This is especially true in sales negotiations where a customer may be afraid of experiencing buyer's remorse if they don't bargain you down to an absurdly low price.

However, it's surprisingly easy to avoid this situation, according to Bob Nicols, author of 'The Journey to Sales Transformation." Rather than let the positions harden, strip them from emotional attachments by making the issue objective rather than subjective.

To do this, you say something like: "Let's put that issue on the table and see if, between the two of us, we can't figure out a creative way to get what we both want."

This way of thinking puts both parties on the same "team" working on the same problem, rather than adversaries working against each other.

Try it!  It works!

Like this post? If so, sign up for the free Sales Source newsletter.

Geoffrey James writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world's most visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source