Negotiation

Question 1

What do people say when they first see your proposal?

Answer 1

They push-back, they ask questions and they object.

They are experienced buyers and it is their job to do this

Question 2

What is it your job to do during the negotiation?

Answer 2

Your job is the broker.

So, your job is to find the best deal for your company AND the prospect

Position yourself as the 3rd party

Question 3

What should you NOT be focusing on in negotiation?

Answer 3

Just what you want / need (i.e., high commission / closing to hit target)

Question 4

What should you be focusing on when negotiating?

Answer 4

You should be focusing on what the prospect needs. Not what you want.

Question 5

What are 4 rules of negotiation?

Answer 5

Never negotiate on email (always call)

Language is everything

Get all objections on the table

Negotiate with the economic buyer

Question 6

Why should you never negotiate on email?

Answer 6

You will misinterpret what they’re saying

They will misinterpret what you’re saying

And you won’t have enough depth behind what they’re saying (e.g., why they are asking for lower price)

Question 7

Why is language so important in negotiation? And how should you be speaking?

Answer 7

Don’t say ‘we’, say ‘I’: take ownership. ‘I can go away and build that’ or ‘I can’t do that price’

Speak about ‘fairness’: what do you need to do to ensure everyone thinks it is fair?

Question 8

Why do you need to get all objections on the table in the negotiation?

Answer 8

You need to get to the CORE reason why they are pushing back (maybe they said price, but maybe it’s that they don’t see value?)

Question 9

What are the 3 overall steps of the pricing game?

Answer 9

1 - Timing

2 - Delivery

3 - Negotiation

Question 10

How does timing work on the pricing game?

Answer 10

Bring price up early, speak about it on your first ever call

Question 11

How does delivery work on the pricing game?

Answer 11

Never apologise; you are bringing a LOT of value to the client, MORE than they are paying

Say ‘the approved price’ + pause

Question 12

How does the ‘negotiation’ part of the pricing game work?

Answer 12

Change the ‘we’ to ‘i’

Be clear on ‘gives’ and ‘gets’
- e.g., if you give them 10% discount, get a signed contract tomorrow + confirm they think it’s fair

Question 13

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Answer 13

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Question 14

When someone asks for a big discount on price, how do you respond?

Answer 14

Use ‘i’ not ‘we’ + ask how:

How would you suggest I ask my boss for 3 months free and a 20% discount?

Question 15

If negotiations are stalling, how can you bring urgency in a powerful way to the negotiation?

Answer 15

Take things away, DO NOT give more

Have the confidence to take away previously agreed gives (like the free CSM training)

Question 16

What resources are available to you to leverage the closing of this deal?

Answer 16

C suite

Directors

CSMs / PS

Question 17

What do you need to find out from the prospect before you begin negotiating?

Answer 17

You need to find out what they’re willing to negotiate on and go from there.

Contract length?
Price?
Support/assistance?

Question 18

How do you want to position yourself?

Answer 18

You want to be on their side, be good cop + a copilot.

You are working with your stakeholder to get the partnership over the line

Question 19

How to deal with people asking for a discount early on?

Answer 19

You need to be able to push back on a negotiation talk early. If you haven’t built out the impact and challenges you’re going to solve, then politely push back and say it isn’t the right time. Go for:

Our licence price is X, volume discounts come in at Y, so we need to be clearer on exactly what impact we’re bringing in here. After this we can revisit this topic.

Question 20

What’s the first ‘give’ you should offer?

Answer 20

PS services, protect ARR above anything else

Question 21

When’s the best time to put in as a deadline for signature?

Answer 21

A random Thursday / Friday, not near the end of the month or quarter

Question 22

Should you commit to incentives on a call?

Answer 22

No, better to take away and discuss with leadership

Question 23

What’s the UpSlide policy on giving stuff for free?

Answer 23

Don’t give free things, give nothing for free.

Unless competing with Macabacus; you can give modelling for free in this instance

Question 24

How should you numerically position discounts?

Answer 24

Do not offer in increments of 5. Pick random numbers like 12.3%. Otherwise they will just jump by 5.

Question 25

Give me 5 levers you can use to drive deal velocity

Answer 25

• Multi-threading
• Routine check-ins with your key champion
• A 15 minute calendar invite to Champion for a phone call invite
• Putting in legal talks alongside business case building
• PS capacity is tight (3 week lead time right now) so if you want this onboarded by X date, we need this done by Y
• Request a personal favour (need it for my appraisal)