Situa&onal Nego&a&on Skills

Selling Value, Not Price

The Business Case for Situa1onal Nego1a1on SkillsA common scenario:

A sales opportunity is iden0fied, it’s assigned to a member of your sales team, and he/she reaches out to conduct a discovery conversa0on. The sales process evolves. The seller puts together a proposal and sends it to the customer believing he/she has the “perfect solu0on” and that the deal is all but done. The seller then follows up to close the deal but finds the customer has gone radio silent. Weeks go by, and finally, the seller reaches the customer only to find that they’ve made a decision to go with a compe0tor. The result? Forecasts get downgraded, the seller is perplexed, and you as the sales leader get frustrated knowing that your sales team is losing deals despite having the beEer solu0on for the customer. This begs the ques0on…..

Why does this happen?

More oIen than not, it’s not that you don’t have good people. Our experience has shown that this scenario is all too common,and it happens because the seller fails to:

• Build trust and credibility – research has shown that one of the most important selec0on criterion used by today’s customer is “can I trust you?”

• Communicate value – most sales people struggle with being able to communicate value differen0a0on through deeper sales conversa0ons that uncover prospects’ hidden needs. Instead, they ask the same “standard” sales ques0ons and fail to connect their solu0ons to the customer’s real needs.

• Understand the buying process – knowing exactly who the buyers are, what their needs are, and how their offering can allow you to tailor or “posi0on” a personalized pitch to mul0ple buyers.

• Focus too heavily on price – they equate the ability to win deals with lowering price instead of making ”value for value” exchanges (i.e., concessions).

What can be done?: Introducing Situa9onal Nego9a9on Skills (SNS)

Situa0onal Nego0a0on Skills (SNS) is a 2-day, highly interac0ve development program that provides par0cipants with the skills, tools, and behaviors they need to sell on value, not price. The SNS program helps sellers nego0ate value-based, sustainable agreements within their own organiza0ons and externally with customers. Over the course of the program, par0cipants are taken through a series of engaging simula0ons, applica0on discussions, personal feedback repor0ng, and team exercises.

During these ac0vi0es, par0cipants are introduced to six nego0a0on principles and learn prac0cal strategies for applying these principles to their upcoming nego0a0ons. Par0cipants also build a new awareness of what their “typical” tendencies are duringnego0a0ons and how these tendencies can have a nega0ve impact on nego0a0on outcomes, and learn new guidelines for planning and approaching their nego0a0ons more effec0vely by prac0cing “what to do and say” to build beEer agreements with customers and internal stakeholders.

Situa&onal Nego&a&on Skills: Key Concepts

Three-dimensional “crea1ve-collabora1ve-compe11ve” nego1a1on model – which enables nego/ators to look at the process as having three dimensions:

- A compe//ve dimension in which the par/es assert their posi/ons and set boundaries;

- A collabora/ve dimension in which the par/es a<empt to find common ground, build their rela/onship, and discover mutually acceptable solu/ons; and

- A crea/ve dimension in which they look for ways to break an impasse and find even be<er solu/ons than those they have already explored

Principles – Six nego/a/on principles that form the “rules of the game” for effec/ve nego/a/ng. These include:

1. Posi'on your case advantageously

2. Set high aspira'ons

3. Manage informa'on inten'onally

4. Know the full strength and range of your power

5. Sa'sfy needs over wants

6. Concede according to a plan

Negotiating With Suppliers: Key Concepts

The negotiation behaviors – which enable negotiators to operationalize the three-dimensional negotiation model. These include:- Make Demands, which helps communicate

what you want and need from the negotiation;

- Ask Open Questions, which helps uncover information, especially about underlying needs;

- Test and Summarize, which helps clarify needs and build the relationship;

- Propose Conditionally, which helps generate creative solutions; and

- Make Trades, which helps break deadlocks and finalize agreements.

“Elegant” negotiables– (those that have high value to the other party but low cost to your company) to break deadlocks, meet needs, and produce better agreements.

Negotiation planner– Participants periodically pause during the program to document how they plan to apply what they have learned to current negotiations using the RED BEAR negotiation planner.

Discovery learning. Par$cipants learn by doing. More than two-thirds of the program is spent in actual simula$ons, followed by structured debriefings in which skill-building needs are iden$fied and addressed.

Extensive feedback. During the program, par$cipants receive personal feedback reports on their use of nego$a$on behaviors and verbal feedback from peers and their instructor. This feedback is obtained through the use of a Pre-Workshop Materials package consis$ng of surveys that are sent by the par$cipant to selected peers or customers. The surveys are returned, anonymously, to par$cipants for self-scoring.

Applica9on planning. Par$cipants periodically pause during the program to document how they plan to apply what they have learned to actual customer or internal situa$ons.

The Learning Approach

DAY 1 – The Nego-a-on Principles

• Workshop Introduc-on • Nego-a-on Simula-on: Discovering what works• The Sales Nego-a-on Principles • Customer Applica-on Plan• The SNS Model• The Compe--ve Dimension

LUNCH BREAK (45 min)

• Concession Exercise• Customer Applica-on Plan• Prac-ce: Self-Interest Behaviors• Customer Applica8on Plan• Sales Nego-a-on Tac-cs and countermeasures• Evening Assignment: Prepara-on for Morning

Nego-a-on

DAY 2 – Rela-onship Skills

• The Selling and Nego-a-ng Process• Nego-a-ng Complex Agreements• Needs, Wants, and Nego-ables• Customer Applica8on Plan

LUNCH BREAK (45 min)

• Iden-fying Needs and “Elegant” Nego-ables for Your Customers

• The Collabora8ve Dimension and the Rela8onship Behaviors

• Prac-ce: Rela8onship BehaviorsNego-a-on Simula-on: Uncovering Customer NeedsApplica-on: Needs, Wants, and Nego-ables

• Customer Applica8on Plan • Evalua-ons and Wrap-Up • Adjourn

Situa&onal Nego&a&on Skills Workshop Agenda

About RED BEAR Nego.a.on Company

RED BEAR Nego.a.on Company is a global performance improvement firm dedicated to maximizing the profitability of the agreements nego.ated with customers, suppliers, partners, and colleagues. Our work helps your organiza.on drive more compe..ve wins, reduce discounts, shorten sales cycles, ensure supplier quality, reduce costs, protect against margin erosion, manage risk, increase internal alignment, and support achievement of other cri.cal corporate goals. Our proven approach helps our clients achieve desired business results, and significant improvements in human performance. Visit us at: www.redbearnego.a.on.com.