Negotiating with Backbone Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value

by Holden, Reed K.

• ISBN13: 9780133064766
• ISBN10: 013306476X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-18
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

Sales professionals now confront the most serious threat to their success. Regardless of their size, industry, country, customer type, nature of the relationship or amount of value they provide, sales professionals are finding that purchasing decisions are increasingly being limited by procurement. The modern procurement function is purchasing on steroids. Where traditional purchasing managers negotiated, procurement officials attempt to dictate. Procurement deploys a variety of tactics designed to do one thing: gain unprecedented discounts and concessions out of even the most sophisticated sales professionals. This book is a strategy guide for salespeople to help them level the procurement playing field by showing readers how to assess the game procurement plays, describing proven ways to resist discounting and protect margins, demonstrating ways to keep value at the forefront of negotiations, offering targeted tactics to protect hard-earned profits from mindless discounting, and detailing eight strategies effective in any type of pricing negotiation. This book will be an invaluable resource for B2B sales professionals, customer-facing professionals, and executives responsible for leading successful sales organizations.

Author Biography

Reed K. Holden, CEO and Founder of Holden Advisors, is a world-class pricing  expert who has spent the past 20 some years helping clients build go-to-market strategies to drive price leadership and  profitable growth. His firm has been  consulting with clients for 10 years to  improve and sustain pricing power in highly competitive markets. His latest work with salespeople focuses on successfully dealing with high pressure procurement departments through more effective value positioning, selling, and negotiation. With Mark Burton, he wrote Pricing with Confidence: Ten Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table. He is also coauthor of the second and third editions of The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing.

Table of Contents

Introduction    1

Part I THE GREAT GAME OF PROCUREMENT    15

Chapter 1 Tough Selling—The New Normal    17

Company-Supported Sales Traps to Avoid     20

Encouraging Desperation Pricing     20

Succumbing to the “White Horse Syndrome”     21

There Is Hope if You Play the Game Right     24

Chapter 2 The Tells of the Game      27

Recognizing “Tells”     28

Evaluating Procurement’s Position     31

Dealing with Procurement Styles     33

Chapter 3 Stacking the Deck in Your Favor     37

Understanding Your Customer’s Game     39

Finding Your Hidden Power     41

Limiting Exposure of Senior Executives     42

Firing the Customer     44

Avoiding the Endowment Effect     46

Customer Games     49

Chapter 4 Getting the Tactics Right the First Time     51

Qualify, Qualify, Qualify     52

Understand Your Foundation of Value     56

Develop Give-Get Options     59

Try Give-Get Bluffs     63

Provide Value-Added Services     64

Use the Concepts of Scarcity and Availability     65

Provide Choices     66

Map the Buying Center     67

Where Appropriate, Build Trust     70

Use the Policy Ploy     72

Delay, Delay, Delay     73

Redefine Risk     75

Dealing with Reverse Auctions     78

Do Your Homework     81

Part II EIGHT KNOCK-’EM-DEAD SCENARIOS FOR WINNING THE GAME    83

Chapter 5 Negotiating with Price Buyers      89

Price Buyers     90

Scenario 1: The Penny Pincher     93

Considerations for How to Price the Deal and the Negotiation for Penny Pinchers     94

Planning the Negotiation for Penny Pinchers     94

Scenario 2: The Scout     99

Assessing the Price Buyer Position and Tactics for Scouts     101

Considerations for How to Price the Deal and the Negotiation for Scouts     101

Planning the Scout Negotiation     101

Chapter 6 Negotiating with Relationship Buyers      105

Relationship Buyers     106

Scenario 3: In the Pack     108

Assessing the Buyer Position and Tactics if You Are in the Pack     109

Considerations for How to Price the Deal and the Negotiation if You Are in the Pack     110

Planning the “in the Pack” Negotiation      110

Scenario 4: The Patient Outsider     112

Assessing the Buyer Position and Tactics for the Patient Outsider     115

Considerations for How to Price the Deal and the Negotiation     116

Planning the Patient Outsider Negotiation     116

Chapter 7 Negotiating with Value Buyers      119

Value Buyers     120

Scenario 5: The Player     122

Assessing the Buyer Position and Tactics of the Value Buyer     123

Considerations for How Price Plays in the Deal and the Negotiation     123

Planning the Player Negotiation     124

Scenario 6: The Crafty Outsider     126

Planning the Crafty Outsider Negotiation     128

Chapter 8 Negotiating with Poker Players     131

Poker Players     132

Scenario 7: The Advantaged Player     135

Assessing Buyer Position and Tactics for the Advantaged Player     138

Considerations for How Price Plays in the Deal and the Negotiation for the Advantaged Player     138

Planning the Advantaged Player Negotiation     138

Scenario 8: The Rabbit     141

Assessing the Buyer Position and Tactics for Rabbits     141

Considerations for How Price Plays in the Deal and the Negotiation     142

Planning the Rabbit Negotiation     142

Advanced Gamesmanship     143

Part III IT’S A NEGOTIATION, NOT A SURRENDER    147

Chapter 9 Beware the Signs of a Losing Game     149

Don’t Kid Yourself     150

Get a Devil’s Advocate     153

Beware Red Flags     154

Customers Have No Experience with You or Your Firm     154

Procurement Runs the Process Tightly     155

The Process Is Controlled at the Manager Level     155

Buyer Has a Well-Established Incumbent     156

Sales Is Unable to Get to the Decision Maker     157

Buyer’s Focus Is Only on Price and Says That All Products Are Commodities     158

Chapter 10 The Realities of the Game     161

Sometimes You Have to Discount     161

Remember a Simple Checklist     164

Develop Your Playbook     165

Don’t Be a Victim     166

Get Some Backbone     167

Index     175