All negotiators are selling something. Not just sales teams, buyers too. Opportunities, space, “special treatment”. But often what one party wants to sell, the other doesn’t actually want to buy. So we look to compel them, by making “an offer they can’t refuse”.
The more compelling your “sell”, the easier your negotiation. Pitch the perfect sell and there is no negotiation. And there are two ways to do it: through Fear and through Desire.
Fear:
Fear can be powerful, but it’s a high risk strategy. No buyer wants to be miss out on “the big launch”, but the loss of trust and credibility if it turns out to be a damp squib takes years to repair. Likewise a buyer’s veiled threat linking margin dilution to pressures on space, might force a supplier to cut prices, but it will also encourage them to look elsewhere for future growth.
Desire:
The most powerful sell comes from a true need – a deep desire. It’s something unique from someone you trust that meets an important and pressing need, and clearly creates value. Even if you haggle out of habit, you won’t push hard. Especially if it already comes at a “reasonable” price. So why don’t you negotiate that way every time?
Creating a desire for something you’ve got to sell, is hard. But creating something to sell that fits what they already desire can be easy. All you have to do is ask, listen, and think.
USE FEAR: When future trust is less important than the sale; where you neither know nor care what they really want; where you have the leverage to win a competitive negotiation
USE DESIRE: When you understand their needs and can create a story that links what they need, to what you need to sell