3 Ways To Handle Clients That Wont Stop Negotiating

There are many times when a client tries to intimidate or get the better of salespeople.

Whether it’s because they feel they have to in order to get a better deal, or their ego is associated with getting one over someone else, or some other rationale, they feel the need to do something that gains them a ‘win’ of some sorts.

One way they do this is to keep negotiating a discount, no matter what figure you have dropped or discounted to.

What can you do to handle this type of negotiating tactic?

Here are three ways that we cover in our Sales Training that you can use to counter it:

1) Be absolutely clear on your price and the reason why you’re sticking to it

Some prospects like to see how much discount they can get and will be like a dog with a bone.

If you allow yourself to be intimidated or controlled by the prospect, you may find yourself dripping your prices like a stone, justifying the movement with the idea that you might still get a deal, albeit a weak one.

Your clear position will show the prospect that these tactics won’t work in this situation.

2) Don’t show that you need their business more than they need your solution

As soon as the prospect sees they have the power in the negotiation, they often try to push their position to be even stronger.

If they see you roll over on price at the merest push, they may see you as easy game and push for more.

The best way to work with this scenario is not to admit you need the business.

When it’s clear that you’ve reached a sticking point and you won’t move any further, it redistributes the positions in the negotiation and gets the other person to reconsider their next move.

And it may not involve price.

3) Take the discussion away from price and move it onto other negotiables

There always has to be other things open for negotiation.

You can ask the prospect what is more important to them than price, or is there anything other than price they are willing to negotiate on.

In most cases, there will be other negotiables (delivery times, payment terms, further purchase options, etc.) that would take the pressure off the discussions on price.

A prospect who is focused almost entirely on price is difficult to deal with until you can get the discussions to move onto other quantifiable measurables that would be just as or more important than just money.

As soon as you can refocus the discussion, you stand a better chance of handling this particular customer dynamic.

Please check out our wide range of Sales Courses, such as our Telesales Training for the latest tips and techniques and also our Sales Negotiation Training to help take your selling game onto the next level.

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training