You don’t get what you deserve in life, you get what you ask for!
We know so many people who are very deserving, but they never ask for what they want, they never negotiate for it – and they just keep waiting for it to come to them.
If there is one thing that we have learned over the years, it is that if you are waiting for things to happen to you, then you are going to be waiting a long, long, long time! If you get off your arse and make it happen, ask and negotiate for it, you have a far better chance of getting it!
Negotiation is not a small subject but to get you started, here are our top tips!
1. Ask for it
You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you ask for.
If you want a discount, then you need to ask for it. If you want a pay rise at work, you need to ask for it. If you want extra bread in the restaurant, ask for it.
Alan’s wife Katie is a legend at asking for a discount. When we are booking hotels she asks, “Is that the best price you can do?” always with a smile on her face and it is amazing how many times it works!
If you want (or don’t want) things to happen, you need to ask for it. Ask for a better price, ask for something for free, ask for a favour. If you do not ask, no one is going to give you it. Did we give you this content? Or did you go online and ask for it…
One last thing: Ask nicely! It goes a long way…
There is so much to say about eye contact that it would take more space than available here, so let me just give you the one key point. Ask for what you want and then stare the person in the eye. This is the uncomfortable moment when the magic happens!
Saying that, there is such a thing as too much eye contact… Can you imagine sustaining 100% eye contact with someone during a conversation? Go to the nearest person and stare at them, eye to eye, without blinking for 100% of the time you see them. We bet they’ll go running!
If you can maintain 60-70% eye contact, you’ll be in the safe area between un-confident and psychopath.
3. Because…
In negotiation, persuasion, and influence there is one word that is going to help you so much and that word is “because”. When you are asking for a discount or asking for a raise, you need to give a reason and having a “because” makes your argument far more compelling.
Can I have a discount please:
- Because it’s not quite right
- Because I am going to buy lots more later
- Because I am a huge fan of what you do
- And my mum’s favourite: Because I am a pensioner
It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, you just need to have one to increase your chances of getting the answer you are after.
4. Objective
Know what you want. If you don’t know what you want, it is very difficult to get it.
Set a clear goal before you enter any negotiation at all. How much do you want to buy it for? How much do you want to sell it for? What’s the least amount you would take? What’s the price you won’t pay?
If you go into a negotiation with a clear idea of what you want out of it, you are far more likely to get it!
5. Be prepared to walk away
There are two bed shops in the town where I live which was really handy for my negotiations when buying a mattress. The conversation went a bit like this:
Q: What’s the best price you can do on this mattress?
A: The price is £459
Q: Is that the BEST price you can do though?
A: We can’t discount the price but maybe we could do free delivery. I’ll have to ask the manager.
Q: Is the manager free now? I don’t have too much time.
A: I’ll go and get her.
Q: Hi are you the manager?
A: Yes, hello, how can I help?
Q: I know you’ll be able to do free delivery but what’s the BEST price you can offer me on this mattress.
A: I’m afraid that is the best price.
Q: You don’t have to be afraid. If you’re not able to discount, I’ll go and look in some other shops [starts to walk away].
A: Before you go, we might be able to do a small discount.
It also helped that I had my son with me who was 18 months old at the time and (luckily) wasn’t having a retail meltdown but instead was jumping on the bed and being super cute. If you’d like to borrow a baby for your mattress shopping, please ensure you have permission from the parents.
If you only have one option of where to buy it is really tough to negotiate, but if there are two providers – and if you are willing to walk away, it is amazing what you can negotiate!
6. Don’t go first versus go first
There are conflicting views on this. We helped an indie publisher (Rita) in the UK to get her business launched and she had some fun with a print supplier. When she negotiated with them, she immediately went first on price.
She said: “It’ll only be cheap won’t it – about £5?” The colour drained from his cheeks and he said: “I’d normally charge £20! but I’ll do it for £10.” Rita immediately agreed and bagged a 50% discount! She told me afterward that she had a strong feeling he was happy with the deal because he got twice the amount he was expecting from her.
Going first sets out the marker. Imagine if the printer came out and said £30 straight away. It would’ve made it much harder for Rita to start at £5.
On the other side of the coin, if you are selling rather than buying, you might want to find out the other person’s budget before you tell them your price so at least you know you are in the same ballpark!
When Alan first sold a training course to Microsoft, he went first and told them the price. He found out later that they were paying another company 10 times the amount he had asked for! 10 times! He wasn’t even playing in the same league.
7. Factor Trading
Price is only one factor in a negotiation. There are so many other things you can trade on. If you are stuck on price, then think of the other things you can negotiate with:
- Payments terms – can you pay upfront? Pay later?
- Pay by credit card or cash
- The fixtures and fittings
- Future business
- Speed of delivery
- Aftercare and servicing
- Promotional support
- Bringing in other customers
There are so many factors to trade and negotiate with. Don’t just get stuck on price!
8. Play the Long Game
A negotiation doesn’t have to all happen in one meeting! It can happen over a period of time. Don’t think you have to get it all done today. Walk away, come back next week – and then see if it is still for sale in a week’s time. Play the long game.
When we were buying a flat, we made a cheeky offer that got rejected. So, we left it a month to see if it was still for sale. After a month, it was still for sale! So, we made a second cheeky offer (slightly more than last time). We were rejected again.
Another month passed and it was still on the market so we made another offer. We eventually succeeded saving £21,000 off the price! If we hadn’t played the long game over the period of months, we never would have got that amount of discount buying it!
9. Do Your Homework
You have got to know your market!
You have got to know what is going on in the market and who the key players are. The better informed you are, the more likely you are to get the deal you want.
If you are in a shop negotiating on price, then you need to know the price on Amazon and the price in other shops. This gives you leverage and enables you to negotiate. If you haven’t done your homework, then it stops you from knowing if the price you are paying is a good one or not!
On the other side, if you know the market then you can defend yourself against being negotiated against because you can tell the customer it is a good price. If you know they can’t get it cheaper on Amazon, and you know that they can’t go down the road and buy it for less, then you can tell them and maintain the integrity of your pricing.
In negotiation, knowing the competition, knowing the market and knowing the person you are talking to and what motivates them, gives you the power in the situation.
Summary
See negotiation as a game.
It is a fun game to play to see if you can get money off when buying a camera in the Sony shop, or getting your next set of flyers. It’s a game. It is also a game that everyone else is going to try and play with you when you are selling to them, so knowing these tools and techniques is going to keep you more in control and allow you to maintain price integrity!
Enjoy playing the game and let us know what discounts you get!
