Unit 15 sales and negotiation

Task 1 Read the text and give the summary.

A firm may depend on their own sales team and/or on the salesmanship of their distributors, wholesalers or retailers. But any company needs to establish a personal relationship with its major clients ('key accounts') and potential customers ('prospects'). It is often said that 'people do business with people': a firm doesn't just deal impersonally with another firm, but a person in the buying department receives personal visits from people representing the firm's suppliers on a regular basis - or in the case of department stores or chain stores, a team of buyers may travel around visiting suppliers.

Telephone selling may use this time more productively (though in some countries this is illegal), but a face-to-face meeting and discussion is much more effective. Companies involved in the export trade often have a separate export sales force, whose travel and accommodation expenses may be very high. So servicing overseas customers may often be done by phone, fax or letter with not so many personal visits. Many firms appoint an overseas agent or distributor whose own sales force takes over responsibility for selling their products in another country.

Diplomacy, friendliness and cooperation are important in selling. There's a widespread belief, which is probably true, that buyers 'buy from those they like' and that sellers give a better deal to 'those they like'.

'Negotiation' is the part of the sales conversation where bargaining about the conditions of an order takes place. It comes at the end of the sales talk at the point when the buyer is definitely interested. Because additional persuasion may be required, it's important not to give away concessions while making the sales presentation.

In international business there are different types of business negotiations, negotiation styles and negotiation situations. A simplified model of what goes on shows four main phases of negotiation:

1. The preparation phase: this is where you work out what you want and what your main priorities are.

2. The debating phase: this is where you try to find out what the other side or the customer wants. You say what you want but you don't say yet what the final conditions are. You use open questions and listen to the customer to try to find out in what areas they may be prepared to move.

3. The proposal phase: this is the point at which you suggest some of the things you could trade or which you might theoretically be prepared to trade, offer or concede. Formulate your proposals in the form of if…, then…. Be patient and listen to the other side's proposals.

4. The bargaining phase: this is when you indicate what it is you will actually trade, offer or perhaps concede. In turn you conditionally exchange individual points, along the lines of: 'If you are prepared to pay swiftly, then we are prepared to change our delivery schedules.' Remember to write down the agreement.

People often try to postpone a decision. They might politely break off from the negotiation and say something like: ' I’ll have to think about it' or 'I’ll have to consult my boss or my department head’, etc. On the whole, however, people expect that agreement will be reached or else you'll do business with another company. Normally both parties are interested in reaching an agreement in which both sides take away something positive from the deal. This is called a 'win-win situation'.

However, conflict can occur in business negotiations and relationships. Naturally, we all try to avoid this because this is where only one side can win and the other will lose. Situations which might lead to such negotiations could be late delivery, poor performance of a product, component failure or the need to make compensation payments. In a situation where one side is clearly in the wrong, the outcome is clear: either the conflict continues until the dispute is resolved or it goes to court.

The final important point about negotiating in the business world is the law of contract. It is generally enforceable in the courts. The position is more complicated in international business negotiations because of differences in laws and assumed liabilities. But, nevertheless, the courts are a source for remedies if contracts are broken. Suing defaulting contractors is quite common. A sound knowledge of contract law is therefore essential for negotiators drawing up an agreement at the end of a deal. However, this is the point at which the experts will usually have to be called in and so is not dealt with further here.

Task 2 Role play. You are going to take part in a telephone sales negotiation. Read your role cards. Then do the negotiation.

Role card A

You are the buyer for your company. You are calling to negotiate an order.

1. State that you need 10,000 cartons of yogurt by three weeks today, at 1,500 Swiss Franks per 100 cartons.

2. Make it clear that you want this for a customer, three weeks from today’s date.

3. Ask how many cartons they can deliver for three weeks from now.

4. Suggest that you could go to another supplier, although you have been satisfied with this company in the past. But you could offer to take the order somewhere else.

5. Try to find out if the other side wants to keep your order. (As you know the alternative distributors are a little expensive).

6. If no suggestion comes from the other side suggest that you are willing to compromise on the delivery time if the price is reduced.

7. Accept if the conditions are favourable, within 105 of your desired price 1,350 Swiss Franks.

Role card B

You are in the sales department of your company. You’ll receive a call from a buyer.

1. Reply that the largest quantity you can provide is 5,000 cartons, at 1,545 Swiss Franks per 100 cartons.

2. State that you cannot deliver by three weeks from now.

3. State that for such large quantities the lead time is going to have to be much longer.

4. Suggest that you want to keep the order but know that you can only deliver 2,000 of the 5,000 cartons in three weeks.

5. Try to find out what the other side is prepared to do. Perhaps you can play for time, because you guess that the buyer will be eager to strike a deal …

6. You guess that the buyer will be a good customer in years to come. So propose that you are prepared to come down in the price …

7. Agree to deal as long as the price doesn’t fall below your accepted internal bottom limit which is 1,468 Swiss Franks per 100 cartons.

Task 3 Draft a follow up fax to the buyer or to the customer confirming your call and what you agreed on.