Why you should start high when in sales negotiations

One of my most popular sales training seminars is my Sales Negotiation Skills programme from the "Ingham Sales System". I think that there are many reasons for why this sales seminar is so popular but I am not going to go into them now! What I do want to do however is reiterate one of the simplest sales training strategies from this sales seminar…

Start high in sales negotiations.

As a strategy, there would be few salespeople or sales managers who would argue with this strategy however on my travels I am constantly amazed by how many sales and business people pay little or no attention to it…

Here are 7 reasons why you should start high when negotiating the sale…

1. It’s very unlikely you will be able to negotiate up from this so this is the most that you can charge
2. If you undervalue your product or service then how can you moan and whine when your client does too?
3. Desperation is not attractive in a sales professional (or anyone else for that matter!)
4. If you win business on price you will almost definitely lose it on price
5. You leave yourself little or no room to negotiate
6. Most clients like to feel that they have “negotiated”
7. You never know, you just might get it!!!

So, with all of these compelling reasons, why do so many salespeople ignore these proven sales training tips?

Fear of loss. Fear of loss causes salespeople to worry about the client saying “No” . Fear of loss causes salespeople to second guess what they think the most their clients might pay will be. Fear of loss causes salespeople to go in as cheap as possible.

There´s a lot of competition in the marketplace today and most salespeople undervalue their services and offerings. Far too many salespeople tell me that their prospects really do only buy on price! I accept that a few do but most don’t. Let’s face it - that’s exactly what your clients want you to think! So that’s why my sales training tip for the day is …

Start high in sales negotiations. As high as you can reasonably expect to get. Go on, give it a try and remember …. sell with passion.