Jack

“Sell First, Negotiate Second I want to make one final comment before wrapping up this chapter. You’ll notice that I have resisted using the words negotiation or negotiating. I’m a firm believer that we need to sell first and negotiate second. Too many salespeople give up a tremendous amount of profit by being willing to negotiate with customers far too early in the sales process. No negotiations should take place with a customer until the customer has rejected your offer on two separate occasions. My reasoning is simple: You cannot negotiate anything successfully unless you know what it is you are negotiating. Any salesperson who attempts to negotiate too early is doomed to lose. Waiting until the offer has been rejected twice gives you the opportunity to learn what the customer’s key needs, desired benefits, and risks are. It allows you to understand how the customer communicates and what the customer’s timeline is for making a decision. There are a host of other things you can and will learn if you take the time to sell. If you truly listen to the customer, you will be able to close the sale without having to negotiate anything. When you close the sale without negotiating, you then have the best opportunity to sell at the highest profit possible.”
― Mark Hunter, High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price