Most of us go into a negotiation with no clear idea of what we want from the negotiation. Good negotiators go prepared with two positions - an ideal position and a starting position that is somewhat higher than the ideal position. eg a sales person working for a large IT services company may want to sell a laptop AMC package for ideally Rs 2000 but may start with Rs 2200 as a starting position.
There has got to be however a third position called a "walk away" position.
What is the walk away position? It is the position below which you will "walk away" from the negotiation, meaning below this point, you would not be interested in doing business. eg a "walk away" position in the laptop eg may be Rs 1700. Why is this important? Most salespeople are inexperienced, the buyers however are quite experienced. The buyer quotes a figure which is 50% lower than the first quote of the seller. Sellers in most cases are desperate to get the deal, they tend to have poor pipelines and are intimidated by the whole sales situation. They tend to get more and more emotionally involved in the negotiation process and ultimately end up giving away too much
Having three positions has the following benefits:
a. It ensures the organization protects its bottomline.
b. It ensures the sales team knows when to stop wasting time with the customer.
c. It ensures a logical discussion without the sales team losing control of their emotions and getting desperate.
............based on ideas discussed in our negotiations training programs
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