Sometimes, users will need some convincing before they are ready to pull the trigger and go forward with a purchase. Unfortunately, if you are too aggressive, the plan might backfire, and you will lose that user and their business. To transform users into fully paying customers, you should implement six sales negotiation strategies.
1. Lead the negotiation
Instead of waiting for your customers to tell you what they are interested in, you should take a proactive approach. Tell them what you are offering, and take control of the negotiation. Before you start talking about the purchase itself, you should try to get the user to agree with you on as many points as possible. This sets a positive tone for the rest of the conversation. Train your sales staff to recognize and seize opportunities and create opportunities instead of waiting for them to appear.
2. Have a backup plan
Realistically, not every sales negotiation will end up with a successful sale. Sometimes, the customer you are communicating with is going to be indecisive. In those situations, it’s much better to have a backup plan rather than think up something on the spot. Will you give your prospective customers time to think about your offer and contact them later, or will you immediately provide them with a discount if they decide to make a purchase then and there?
Develop detailed scenarios for everyday situations that may arise in sales negotiation. Create a decision flowchart for your sales team, and they will never be caught off guard. Additionally, if you always have an answer to every situation, you will come across as more confident. As trivial as it may sound, confidence can help you establish control of the negotiation, and then you can steer it in the direction of your choosing.
3. Offer additional value and upsell
Any product is only as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it. When talking to customers, you should have a clear value proposition. Explain to your customers how they are benefiting from making a purchase. How your offer sounds to a customer can affect their perceived value, and it’s up to you to make it sound appealing.
The perceived value is what the customer thinks a product or service is worth. This value can be based on personal needs or desires, and it can also come from comparisons with what your competitors are offering. Therefore, you should always give your customers the feeling that they are getting additional value by doing business with you. This approach can also help you build customer loyalty since they will feel that their business is appreciated. One of the most popular sales negotiation strategies you should implement is hiding some of that value behind an upsell. However, the customer needs to have a high perceived value of the original offer for this to work.
4. Know what your customers want
Every product exists to solve a problem or fulfill a customer’s need. Do extensive customer research to know what is important to your target demographic. Not every single lead is going to fall into the same category. This just means that you can have a different approach for distinct categories of leads and work to improve their individual customer experience. Separating leads into categories and doing extensive customer research beforehand can save you a lot of time and effort during the negotiations themselves.
You will be able to appeal to the specific needs of your customers. While one person might appreciate a discount, someone else could be more interested in post-purchase support or your refunds policy. It can be beneficial to understand what is important to each category of leads to know which sales negotiation strategies you should implement.
5. Have individual customer information available for your sales reps
Walking into any type of sales negotiation without sufficient information is just setting yourself up to fail. However, it’s not uncommon for most online businesses to have multiple sales representatives handle a single lead throughout their customer journey. It means all of your teams need to coordinate and give each other the current information regarding your customers. CRM software can help keep all your teammates informed and, thus, improve sales. Digital tools will let you have everything at your disposal – a single click of a button will reveal all you need to know regarding the customer you communicate with. You can learn which products the customer was interested in and how far they have progressed down the sales funnel.
6. Don’t push for an immediate sale
Nurture your leads, track their progress, and know when they are ready to make a purchase. If your lead isn’t ready to make a purchase, you can try to tempt them with a discount. However, in that scenario, your company is losing money equal to the discount. Perhaps you can wait until the lead reconsiders and is ready to buy at full price. Unfortunately, there is no universal answer to this situation. However, most sales executives will agree that you don’t need to be too trigger-happy when offering discounts. It can be cheaper to retarget someone with your marketing than to give them a discount.
In conclusion
Every negotiation will be a delicate back and forth between you and your customer. While there are no foolproof solutions that are guaranteed to work every single time, you can improve the odds in your favor with a bit of preparation and research. We have covered six sales negotiation strategies you should implement; now, it’s up to you to get your sales staff trained and ready to deal with customers.
