Negotiations play a central role in the selling profession. Generic principles of formal integrative negotiations include preparing for negotiations, knowing the value of what you are offering, understanding the problem, creating alternate solutions, finding some point of agreement, and knowing when to walk away. If a salesperson uses a negotiations worksheet, then it can be much easier to plan systematically.

Sales resistance is natural and should be welcomed as an opportunity to learn more about how to satisfy the prospect’s needs. Buyers’ concerns often provide salespeople with precisely the information they need to close a sale. These concerns fall into five broad categories: buyers’ needs, the product, the source, time, and price. Whatever the reasons, the salesperson should negotiate sales resistance with the proper attitude, never making too much or too little of the prospect’s concerns.

We describe eight specific methods of negotiating buyer concerns: direct denial, indirect denial, need-satisfaction questions, superior benefits, demonstration, trial offer, testimony, and postpone method. The use of these methods and combinations thereof varies depending on the particular combination of salesperson, product, services, and prospect.

We have described several specific methods for creating value in formal negotiations, but you should remember that practice in applying them is essential and that there is room for a great deal of creative imagination in developing variations or additional methods. With careful preparation and practice, negotiating buyer concerns about price should become a stimulating challenge to each salesperson’s professional growth.

Buyers who are trained in negotiations resort to a number of tactics that a salesperson should be prepared for. In any case, the ultimate goal of formal integrative negotiations is to achieve win-win solutions by offering buyers the value they appreciate without compromising the sellers’ benefits.