In the previous blog, we continued our discussion of the critical questions sales management should ask when it comes to closing must-win deals and explored “Common Negotiation Mistakes”, in which we introduced the concepts of “having the right negotiation” and then “negotiating the right way.” In this blog, we’ll discuss “Are we having the right negotiation?”

You could be a very talented negotiator, but if you’re having the wrong negotiation, the odds of closing a great deal are very slim. Let’s summarize what’s been discussed so far in this blog series to ensure we are setting up the right negotiation. There are four objectives we need to achieve prior to what is commonly viewed as the formal “negotiation”:

• Sell to customer outcomes (both Business and Personal)
• Validate with the customer the key Deal Levers that are required to produce those outcomes
• Determine what a Great Deal would look like based on the outcomes important to both sides
• Present the customer with options in order to allow them to buy