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how to combat ’I can get the same thing cheaper’ Posted by Brian Dietmeyer on Thu, Dec 09, 2021 @ 04:15 PM Tweet Never be surprised again at the end of a deal cycle when negotiating. You can prepare for 97% of buyer tactics that happen in every negotiation. Click on image to watch this 5-minute video. Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: business negotiations How to Avoid Deep Discounting Posted by Brian Dietmeyer on Thu, Nov 18, 2021 @ 03:07 PM Tweet Based on 20 years of coaching negotiation in 47 countries, we will share the 1 tool to leverage to avoid deep discounts. While it’s simple, none of the sales leaders we worked with were leveraging it prior to our consulting with them. Click on the link below to access the 5-minute video. Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: business negotiations what kind of negotiator are you? Posted by Marie Dudek Brown on Tue, Feb 09, 2021 @ 04:26 PM Tweet Think! Inc. | 5600blue Partner, Carrie Welles, talks with Rosemary Coates in this audio file on the Women and Manufacturing (WAM) website. In the world of negotiators, people either seem to think they are really good at it or that they stink, but there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground. Some people stick to instinct and luck when it comes to business negotiations, but our guest today works with well thought-out strategies, important concepts, and an organized blueprint. Carrie Welles is a Partner at Think! Inc., a negotiation training and consulting firm. Her role includes consulting with clients on implementing value creation and value capture ecosystems, business development, developing sales strategy, and onboarding new consultants. Negotiation skills are very important for people in everyday life but especially critical for managers and executives. We have lots of ground to cover on today’s episode and look forward to exploring the life of this woman in manufacturing. Stay tuned as we dive into an insightful conversation about negotiation training aspects, concepts to focus on, and some important tips for mastering business negotiations!” Click here to access: WAM | Sales Negotiation and Consulting with Carrie Welles (womenandmfg.com) Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: business negotiations , Carrie Welles 7 words that cost you millions Posted by Brian Dietmeyer on Mon, Feb 01, 2021 @ 04:06 PM Tweet Those words are: "I can get the same thing cheaper!" You’ve heard them many times. Now, how did you react to them? That reaction could be costing you much more than you think. Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: business negotiations #1 Reason Strategic Initiatives Fail at the Deal Level Posted by Brian Dietmeyer on Thu, Aug 13, 2020 @ 01:00 PM Tweet In her book The End of Competitive Advantage , Columbia Professor Rita McGrath states: "Long term structural advantage is gone and being replaced by a series of short term transient advantages." This means we need to do two things to survive: Constantly innovate. Get these innovations into the hands of our salespeople as soon as possible to leverage them as quickly as possible. We’ve spoken with multiple leaders that tell us the following story: We saw a competitive opportunity and developed a new product or service, acquired a new business, etc. We announced our new and improved value proposition at sales kickoff. Product and marketing produced playbooks and enablement took the team through rigorous sales methodology training. Financial incentives were put in place. By and large the sales team didn’t make the transition but kept selling the old value proposition and solution. Why is this, given the steps above taken by the organization? The #1 reason?? The confidence of the sales team . Salespeople do not want to take the risk of losing a deal or losing face having new conversations for the first time in front of a customer (even if we’re in front of them on a screen). Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: sales enablement , competitive advantage , sales training initiatives , 5600blue , guided selling Social Distancing: Are You Ready for Increased Virtual Negotiation? Posted by Brian Dietmeyer on Mon, Mar 23, 2020 @ 08:33 AM Tweet The current health and business environment is very likely to increase virtual negotiation. Are you ready? We’d like to share some pointers on how to proceed in the new world. To start, a study of email, telephone and face-to-face negotiation (published in Harvard Business Review) notes the following: No surprise but the best outcomes for both sides were reached face-to-face On telephones, it was more win/loss where one party ended up with a significantly better outcome Email negotiation had the highest level of impasse (50% vs 19% face to face) Given our choices of text, email, or phone calls, we strongly suggest video conferencing as the next best alternative. I think we’re all aware that if an email can be misconstrued…it will.be.” Which is why we all know to be very cautious with our written word absent verbal and physical cues as conflict can easily arise. Interestingly, I did just read an article that emoji’s might actually help replicate some of that human interaction and clarify intent with email! ? Keep in mind a few facts when you’re forced to conduct negotiation via email: Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: negotiation skills for sales , effective negotiation , virtual negotiation best practice to negotiate larger deals more quickly Posted by Carrie Welles on Thu, Nov 07, 2019 @ 04:15 PM Tweet ‘I sent my customer a proposal. They accepted it on the spot with no changes, and I closed the deal,’ said no salesperson ever! Salespeople must understand that submitting a first proposal to their customer is an invitation to the negotiation dance. A dance that includes price concessions, line-item negotiating, demands, and giveaway pressure. Even if you have executed your sales process flawlessly, there will always be missing information and uncertainty in a customer negotiation. With the best intentions, salespeople set out to sell solutions only to end up negotiating price. They believe customers will view and negotiate the package as a whole. When in reality, customers enthusiastically negotiate line by line, and then inevitably pull price out of the equation and place a bullseye on it. What if there was a better method of changing the conversation with your customer from delivering pricing to delivering value solutions? A method that would help keep you in control, manage the uncertainty, and close larger deals more quickly for you and your company? There is. Multiple Solution Options Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: negotiation skills for sales , effective negotiation , multiple solution options Shift the conversation from price of product to value of solution Posted by Marie Dudek Brown on Thu, Aug 08, 2019 @ 03:56 PM Tweet Q: Are you sick of hearing these 10 words from your customers? I can get the same thing cheaper from your competitor!” Or, when the customer says, "We want you to match the 10% discount offered by the competition.” As a sales executive, you know too well, when negotiating on price … Buyers treat your brand as a commodity Your sales reps run to their managers to get quick price discounting, thus… You have to ‘buy the business’ to make the sale And your sales cycle lingers on, taking too long With potential buyers seeing you the same as everyone else. Because you sound like everyone else. They made it about price. And your reps are unable to change the conversation. Read More 0 Comments Click here to read/write comments Tags: negotiation skills for sales , business negotiations sales training spotlight: negotiation blueprinting Posted by Marie Dudek Brown on Wed, Jul 17, 2019 @ 07:57 AM Tweet You could argue that when it comes to sales success, no skill is more important than negotiation....