M.C. Articles

In Sales training programmes, sales negotiation skills are often overlooked. One might say that the reason most of us feel the need to negotiate with others is so that we can find a way to get what we want. Being human, we all believe that our point of view is important and that everyone else should at least consider seeing things our way. If you had no wants or needs, there would be little reason for you to enter in into negotiations with anyone.

If sales courses don't always teach influencing skills, how then can you convince other people to favourably consider your propositions?

Believe it or not, there is a science backed up by more than 60 years of research that has evolved our knowledge of the use of persuasion to satisfy our needs and desires in sales negotiation. The world's leading authority on the science of persuasion, Dr Robert Cialdini, has discovered 6 principles of persuasive communication in his research:

Reciprocation
Liking
Commitment & Consistency
Authority
Scarcity
Social Proof

Whilst influence will always be an art, it is incredibly helpful to deploy the power of the 6 principles discovered by scientific research to increase your chances of influencing others to give you what you really want.

Let's start by closely looking at what is believed to be the most important principle from a negotiation viewpoint - reciprocation.

Reciprocation means that we return to others the form of behaviour that they demonstrate towards us. If you have helped me, then I should help you. If you invite me to your birthday party, then I should invite you to my birthday party. If you make a concession to me, then I should make a concession to you.

So what does this mean to you and how can you employ it to get what you would like?

Here's how:

Make sure that when you start a negotiation you ask for a little more than you would be satisfied to receive.

Let's say you are selling a widget and you need to get $ 100 for the widget.

If you want to use the principle of reciprocation, then you should start by asking for a little more - let's say by asking for $ 105.

If your counterparty does not agree to paying you $ 105 for the widget, then you can extend a concession by lowering your required price to $ 100 in exchange for your counterparty also making a concession to you. A concession that your counterparty could make in this case could be to pay you immediately on the spot or to take care of shipping etc.

The key is for you to offer the concession - don't wait for your counterparty to make a concession. Just make sure that you use the word 'if' when you make your concession:

"If you are prepared to pay me in cash right now, then I will reduce the price from $ 105 to $ 100". This way you give an indication to your counterparty that you are prepared to be flexible and you will now significantly improve the likeliness of them also being flexible and offering a concession in return.

Just be sure to use this principle 'in the moment' whilst you are negotiating. If you went away from a negotiation to review your proposal, your counterparty will be more likely to regard your amended offer as a new proposal, not as a concession.