In negotiations with industrial customers, there are

Sales consultant Horst Bayer gives seven tips on how salespeople can better succeed in negotiations with industrial customers.

Tip 1: Be aware of the nature of a negotiation

In price and contract negotiations in the B2B sector, the sellers and the buyers are usually under a lot of pressure to succeed, because both sides have to achieve predefined goals, some of which differ greatly from each other. Therefore, it is not necessary to conduct negotiations with the resolution: I want to win.

Negotiations are usually won by the party that pursues the clearer strategy and objectives and is best prepared. The idea that both sides always behave fairly in negotiations is unrealistic. In many negotiations, the seller must quickly say goodbye to a - usually feigned - win-win cuddly course.

Price and contract negotiations in the B2B sector are usually so complex that one is rarely successful with a standardized approach and behavior. What is needed are personalities with backbone and experience who react flexibly to the situation and the partner; personalities, moreover, with social and emotional intelligence, who think strategically and behave tactically intelligently, and who, despite all their will to succeed, are also willing and able to cooperate. Such negotiators develop over the course of many years - by continually studying their partners and critically reflecting on their own behavior and its impact.

Tip 2: Put yourself in the buyer's perspective

Changing your perspective to that of the buyer can work wonders. When breaking out of the first-person perspective, a whole new world of creative ideas often opens up to create a common basis for negotiation.

If buyers feel that their needs and their personality are being taken seriously and understood, then they want to find a solution with their partner. This means that the energies of the seller and the buyer are moving in the same direction. So they are more likely to find a solution that both sides can live with - without one partner losing sight of his or her negotiating goals.

Tip 3: Create the necessary value awareness for your solution

The central task of the salesperson is to create value awareness in the buyer for his problem solution. He must convince the buyer with a customer-specific sales argument that it is more advantageous for him and his company to buy product X or service Y from him - even if the price is somewhat higher than that of the competition.

To do this, salespeople must understand their customers' business and know their current market situation. The more competence a salesperson has in this area and the more confidently he or she acts as a result, the more difficult it is for the buyer to insist on price reductions or to award the contract to a competitor.

Tip 4: Be authoritative, don't just spout phrases

When things get tricky in negotiations, for example because the buyer raises a real sticking point, many salespeople show evasive behavior. That is, they bring up minor points or use phrases. This "annoys" the buyer and can lead to a loss of trust and thus to a loss of the order.

If a salesperson shows such evasive behavior, buyers conclude from this: This salesperson will also take flight if there are problems in the cooperation after the contract has been concluded. This means that he and his company will always have some kind of excuse instead of taking our wishes and problems seriously and addressing them. Therefore, he is not an attractive partner.

Tip 5: Build a relationship with the buyer - early on

Salespeople often try to bypass the "evil" buyer and instead seek contact with the specialist departments. No buyer can tolerate this. So he lets the salesperson "run aground". Sellers usually justify their bypassing of the purchasing department with the argument: "The purchasers have no idea about the subject matter". However, today's buyers are mostly experts who, due to their training and experience, understand technical procedures and processes very well - as well as business contexts.

As a salesperson, seek contact with purchasing as early as possible. And when talks are held with the specialist departments, for example to sound out future requirements? Then salespeople should ask their counterparts in the specialist departments: "Who from Purchasing is responsible for this? I would like to introduce myself to her/him." Otherwise, this will come as a bitter revenge when it comes to placing orders.

Tip 6: Present yourself and your company as a possible strategic partner

Negotiations in the B2B sector are often about agreeing a strategic partnership, i.e. setting the course for long-term cooperation. Because it has advantages for both sides. For example, more efficient processes can be agreed on the basis of a stable business relationship characterized by trust - such as the elimination of incoming goods inspections or a simplified sampling procedure.

Suppliers seeking a strategic partnership with a company must not only be able to satisfy its acute needs. They must have other qualities to be attractive as a partner - for example, a high level of innovation, development expertise and liquidity. As a salesperson, convince buyers that your company has these qualities.

Tip 7: React calmly and confidently to tactical fouls from buyers

Buyers have to achieve the best possible negotiation result for their company. That's why it's normal for them - like salespeople - to sometimes use certain tricks of the trade. Complaining about this is pointless. After all, this is as much a part of negotiating as the "tactical fouls" in a soccer game. You should react to this in an appropriately relaxed manner. Here are a few examples

• Buyer's trick: The purchaser generalizes negative individual cases
  Seller Response: not accept, demand further examples

• Buyer's trick: Buyer engages in salami tactics by constantly making additional demands
  Seller Response: first collect all negotiation points and only then negotiate

• Buyer's trick: Buyer tries to create stress in the seller by playing up trivialities or feigning disinterest
  Seller Response: remain calm, continue to argue calmly, do not launch counterattacks

• Buyer's trick: Buyer tries to intimidate the seller by, for example, making him wait for a long time, constantly phoning on the side
  Seller Response: Address courageously and openly, but with a smile, that you see through the tricks of the other side

Salespeople must recognize the "tactical fouls" of buyers. Only then can they react to them with confidence. If a salesperson is unable to do this, he or she is considered by the buyer to be less assertive - even within his or her own company. From then on, he will treat the salesperson accordingly. Therefore, one maxim for "unfair tricks" by buyers should be: Show flag and self-confidence. Only then will buyers take them seriously as negotiating partners.

To the author:
Horst Bayer is a senior consultant and trainer at the sales consultancy Peter Schreiber & Partner in Ilsfeld, Germany (www.schreiber-training.de). Before becoming a consultant, the business economist worked for 30 years in the areas of purchasing, logistics and materials management for manufacturing and capital goods industries. Most recently, he was head of purchasing and logistics at an automotive industry supplier.