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Negotiating with Backbone: Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value
- By Reed K. Holden
- Published May 18, 2012 by FT Press.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
About
Features
Eight sales strategies and numerous techniques to help sales professionals close the deal on their terms.
- Resist mindless discounting! Learn powerful new positioning, sales, and negotiation techniques for defeating the "procurement buzz saw".
- Level the playing field, and restore pricing power and confidence.
- Protect customer relationships against ruthless purchasing specialists
- By Reed K. Holden, a premier pricing strategist, consultant, and speaker.
Description
- Copyright 2012
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-306476-X
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-306476-6
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.
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Negotiating with Backbone: Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value
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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