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The Difference Between Sports and Sales Negotiation – Winning

What does it mean to “win” a sales negotiation? This sure looks like a simple question doesn’t it? I think that in our minds, we all know what we think winning looks like – after all, we see it in sports all the time. However, things are just a bit different when it comes to sales negotiations…

In sports, winning sometimes is achieved by a blowout – the football game that ends up 60 – 0, the no-hitter in baseball, etc. What’s interesting is that although these are clear victories for one team, the viewers get bored quickly and turn off the game – why bother if you already know who’s going to win. A lot of Superbowl games have been like this.

It turns out that sales good negotiations are a lot more like sports games that are too close to call right up until the last moment.

Dr. Chester Karrass goes about defining a sales negotiation winner as being someone who “.. understands what his or her objectives are and takes the time to achieve what is possible through the bargaining process.”

The interesting thing here is that “getting the lowest / highest price” is nowhere to be found in this definition – I think that that speaks volumes. During a sports competition, nobody spends any time worrying about what they can do to make a better deal for the other side. However, during a sales negotiation, this can be critical because you’re going to be dealing with the other side in the future and this negotiation is just the start.

Finally, one of the keys to being a successful sales negotiator is to make sure that the other side ends up being satisfied with the final deal that you reach. Unlike sports, it’s not over once the deal has been inked. The other side still needs to deliver on their promises and you want them to be happy to do so – not unhappy and looking for ways to cut corners in order to make back some of what they feel that they’ve lost!

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How to Invite Your Warm Market to a Business Presentation One on One!

I cant remember the one person who has joined a MLM or network marketing company and has not been told to work their warm market. Now that is absolutely fine but a lot of enrollers fail to train the newly sponsored the right way.

The most important thing for a person working their warm market is to learn how to invite properly. When introducing your opportunity to new prospects you should be giving them no information on products, services or your actual opportunity. I am not saying you want to lie to anyone, but you do not want them to prejudge your business before they have seen its entirety.

Imagine you receive a phone call from a friend and he says, you will not believe this I have found a business opportunity and its going to make us rich. I would say that most people would be thinking yeah okay, while they roll their eyes back into their head. The first time I was approached with an opportunity it was by a friend. He wanted me to come by his house and meet a guy who makes $40,000 dollars a month, the first thing to go through my head was, this sounds like a scam. Now that is the last thing you want going through anybody’s mind who you are about to introduce to you your business. Eventually I did go see the presentation but he called me four times over the next week to ask me to come. Come to find out it was not a scam. Now even though I did go see the presentation, who has time to call the same people over and over, let alone who wants to keep bothering there friends and family.

So lets get into the invite. When calling a prospect two very important things you want to happen when talking to them is excitement and urgency. Excitement is going to draw them in and make them really wonder what it is that you want to show them. Urgency is going to create the affect that there is a demand for it and if they don’t want to see it somebody else does and will.

Now what to say… You do not want to jump right into what you really called them for to talk about. Now before saying anything make sure you tell them you are on your way out the door and that you only have a few minutes to talk. This way they will know you don’t have time to talk all day and it will allow your conversation to be short and sweet. Allow some chit chat but keep it to a minimum. Try to keep the conversation in the 2-3 minute range. Once the chit chat is out of the way, explain to them how you just started a new project or business adventure. Which ever you prefer. Tell them when you saw the project you thought of them. The next thing you should say should sound like: Do you think you could meet me for a coffee? More then likely they are going to say yes. Now make sure you confirm a time and place and tell them you are going to put it into your appointment book. By doing this they will know your time is valuable and you are on a schedule. I know you are wondering what about objections. That is easy don’t worry. Explain to them by you telling them about it, it would do it any justice and you want them to see it the same way you did. More then likely they will understand. Don’t forget to use urgency and excitement. If they keep on asking say, look I would not waste your time if this was not something worth your while and mine.

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Being Present And Living Fully

Where ever you go….there you are! Where ever YOU go….THERE you are!

Think about that for a few seconds. You may not realize it, but for some of us, that means “going” up to 25 or even 45 or 50 places a day. Each and every one of those is a separate transaction…and another opportunity to be YOU all over again. So, who will you bring to the party, the office, the grocery store, the kid’s school conference? Who will be laying next to your husband or wife tonight? YOU get to choose. That is what life is about; choosing WHO you are going to BE each and every day.

This is called being in the moment….or BE HERE NOW! It’s a technique that you can learn to utilize and one which you can call upon at any moment. It’s the quality of being able to move beyond past experiences and future predictions to seeing NOW for what it really is…a moment in time. Because, after all, we are human Beings…not human goings or doings. Right?

Imagine having the ability to interact with that difficult employee without conflict. Or, how it would feel to be able to listen to a friend’s sad story ONE MORE TIME, but hearing and responding to it from a completely different place than before.

What’s the value of such a technique, you might ask. Well, provides the ability to start over again and again with a clean slate. When you start to notice yourself falling into the same internal dialogue, zoning out during a business meeting, or mindlessly picking at your mashed potatoes over dinner as contemplate tomorrow’s wardrobe…simply state these words to yourself:

“Be here now”, and gently bring your attention back to where you want it.

FOR EXAMPLE: You’re attending a lecture and your attention strays from the speaker to all the chores you have, to a date, to the fact that you’re hungry. As you say to yourself “Be here now”, you focus back on the lecture and maintain your attention there as long as possible.

When it wanders again, repeat “Be here now”, and gently bring your attention back.

You may notice that your mind often wanders (as often as several times a minute). Each time just say,”Be here now”, and refocus.

Try not to judge the experience or to keep particular thoughts out of your mind because as the old saying goes, “That which you resist, persists”. For example, try this short exercise: Close your eyes for three minutes and try to think about anything except cookies. Remember, don’t think about cookies. When you try not to think about something, it keeps popping back into your mind. “I’m not going to think about cookies. I’m not going to think about cookies.”

So, when you find your thoughts wandering, gently acknowledge and let go of that thought and, with your “Be here now,” return to the present.

Initially, you might do this hundreds of times a week. But, over days (or even weeks) you’ll find that the period of time between your straying thoughts becomes longer and longer. So be patient and keep at it. You can do it!

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