All sales negotiations are driven by both public and private needs. If you can understand and deal with the other party hidden needsthen you will have more power during the negotiation.
It’s what lies below the surface that really matters.
When we enter into a sales negotiation, we like to delude ourselves that we know what the other party is looking for to get out of the negotiation. At least on the surfaceall sales negotiations look the same.
The easy-to-see wishes of the other party usually boil down to one of three things: money, goods and/or services. This is what we can see and this is what we spend our time preparing to trade. However, that’s really only part of the story.
Knowledge of hidden needs increases your power
I’m sure you probably already agree with me that knowing the hidden needs of the other side of the table would be advantageous when you’re preparing to negotiate. However, did you know that this knowledge will increase your bargaining power?
Remember that power in a sales negotiation is a difficult thing to achieve. However, the more you know about the other side and its hidden needs, then the more bargaining power you will have.
The search for hidden needs
If we can all agree that identifying the other party’s hidden needs is a good thing, then all we have left to talk about is exactly WHAT you can go do that. The key is to have a good set of questions.
These are the questions you should ask yourself PRIOR TO you enter into a sales negotiation. Not all questions will relate to this specific deal and your list will evolve over time. Here is a good set of questions to start asking yourself:
- Do you want to make your life easier?
- Do you want to appear competent?
- Do you want peace of mind?
- Do you want to be heard?
- Do you want freedom of choice?
- Do you want to keep your job?
- Do you want recognition?
- Do you want to like?
final thoughts
Going into a sales negotiation, you need to realize that the other side of the table probably has more hidden needs than publicly known needs. What this means to you is that the other side of the table won’t say “yes” to your requests until after at least some of your hidden wishes. have been fulfilled.
In the end, all negotiation is about making sure you have enough power to succeed. One of the most important keys is to realize that we also need address hidden needs on the other side of the table to reach an agreement that both parties can live with.
If you can learn to spot these hidden needs before you enter your next deal, then you can close. best deals and close them faster.
