Listen up-and sell Keys to negotiative selling

By Jeffrey Hansler Oxford Co.

determine the facts.

f, S the world becomes smaller Athrough technology and overnight delivery, as quality becomes the norm, and as customers learn of vast alternative sources for similar products, selling loses any association with oneway communication and enters a new era of "negotiative selling."

Negotiative selling is the act of assisting someone in coming to a decision about a product, service or idea. Successful negotiative sellers help buyers discover their underlying needs and resolve any conflicts between those underlying needs.

I call the process used in effective negotiative selling "directed communication." Directed communication is a part of natural conversation. It's honest, straightforward and nonmanipulative. Most importantly, it guides a negotiative salesperson to uncovering the needs of the buyer.

The major contributing factor to the success of negotiative selling is the large quantity of questions. The best negotiative salespeople are open to receiving as much information as possible, factual and otherwise. Emotions contribute to a conversation. sometimes bringing forth facts and sometimes assumptions presented as fact. The greatest benefit from the five-step directed communication process to the negotiative salesperson is that it enables the salesperson to successfully

Step one is the CONTACT. In it, you briefly state your product, service or idea. and focus on learning about the prospect with your eyes and ears. You need to be aware of your personal strengths and weaknesses and those of your product or service. You should have a clear idea of what you intend to happen and several ideas on how it should happen. Your plans may be based on a great deal of information about the prospect, some facts, or only assumptions. Great negotiative salespeople realize that every situation is different and the Drocess is dvnamic.

Step two is QUALIFICATION. This is an evaluation of the resources you will need to invest to make a sale, and the prospect's ability to come to a "yes" decision. Qualification is a critical part of negotiative selling because it provides the salesperson with the ability to spend time with the right prospects. It's great to have a prospect who really needs your product, but unless they can afford it you will be wasting valuable time.

Step three is NEEDS ANALYSIS. This is where the successful negotiative salesperson spends the most time. In this step, you help the prospect reveal the underlying needs for a product. service or idea. One of the best methods for determining a prospect's needs is to find out how they have satisfied their needs in the past. This is accomplished by asking a great many questions beginning with who, what, where, when and why, why, why? If any conflicts come up, you ask questions about which needs are most important and why, why, why? By questioning, you assist the prospect in realizing their own decision-making process.

Step four \s the AGREEMENT. In this step, you and the prospect discuss possible options available and you demonstrate or explain the ways your product or service will better meet their needs, if it does. Then you assist the prospect in making a decision based on their needs.

This is the point where the prospect says yes and becomes a satisfied customer, if the product addresses their needs, or you decide that the resources required to change his mind from a no will be too great. A maybe is merely a postponement of a decision, and indicates that underlying needs are still in conflict. Remember, many people who need your product. service or ideas will never purchase them. A negotiative salesperson's responsibility is only to bring the process to a decision for that moment in time, not force a desired decision.

Step five is FOLLOW-UP. It provides you with the customer's perception of their needs satisfaction. This, more than anything else, guides the salesperson to providing better service to this customer, all current customers and future customers.

Follow-up should be done with those who purchased and those who did not. Obviously, everyone who did not purchase cannot be followed up on, but some of your greatest learning lessons about you and your communication with others come from those who did not purchase.

Negotiative selling works well because it uncovers the underlying needs of the prospect. Needs that they themselves may not have been consciously aware of before they began answering your questions.

- Je.ffrey Hansler is a professional speaker, sales educator, and president of Oxford Co., 213 Second St., Huntington Beach, Ca.92648: (714) 960-7461.

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Rrrllnns

Pini Hardware, Novato, Ca., has relocated to a new 21,000-sq. ft. facility; co-owners Steve Saunders and Chip Young will renovate and lease out Pini's 15,000-sq. ft. former home of the last 58 years ...

Jant Group II Inc. has leased a 17,500-sq. ft. building in Spokane, Wa., to open Spokane VaIIey Ace Hardware next month; the facility is half the size of South Hill Ace opened by Jant in late 2002

True Value Trader Horn has relocated to a 407o larger site in Portales, N.M. ...

Archie's Hardware Store. Kernville, Ca., was sold by the Donald Nevins family to Jill and Kevin Thurman...

McLendon Hardware Inc. paid $9 million for the former Kmart site in Renton, Wa., to relocate its main store and Hq.

Granada Hills Hardware, Granada Hills, Ca., is closing its doors after more than 50 years ...

Prime Building Materials, North Hollywood, Ca., is opening a new 72,000-sq. ft. store next month in Sylmar, Ca.; Prime added a 20,000-sq. ft. stone yard Nov. 1 in Los Angeles, Ca. ...

Burlingame Plaza Ace Hardware,Burlingame, Ca., closed late last month with the retirement of Dominic and Madelene Bregante, owners for the last 30 years

Stock Buitding Supply West (Anderson Lumber), Ogden, Ut., agreed to sell a vacated 11.5-acre facility in Twin Falls, Id., to the county for $3.2 million ...

Lowe t Cos. recently opened home centers in Corona and C. Ventura, Ca. (Jonathan Roach, general mgr.) the chain antici- pates an August opening in Hemet, Ca., and a fall unveiling in Fremont, Ca.

Lowe's is ready to begin construction in Cotati, Ca.; is looking at sites in Santa Cruz, Ca.; Beaverton, Or., and Corvallis, Or., the latter also reported to have been looked at by Jerry's Home Improvement Center

Lowe's is negotiating to open an outlet in Salem. Or.. with Keizer Station, a proposed shopping center that could begin construction as early as this summer lnwe's is expanding its number of operating divisions from three to five: the West (headed by Robert Wagner), South Central (Mike Brown), North Central (Nick Canter). Southeast (Greg Wessing), and Northeast (Rick Damrom)...

Home Depot opened a new store Jan. 15 in Madera, Ca. (Randy Martin, store mgr.) ...

Home Depot hopes to begin construction soon on a store in Vancouver, Wa.; is negotiating for a site in the Lemon Creek area of Juneau, Ak., owned by Juneau Ready Mix; will anchor a 22-acre shopping center in Lake Elsinore, Ca.; is considering sites in Espanola, N.M., and l]incoln, Ca., and has proposed building a 137,156-sq. ft. home center in Red Bluff, Ca.; a 149,000-sq. ft. unit on

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14.1 acres in S. Vista, Ca., and a I2O,496-sq. ft. store on 10 acres in Delano, Ca.

Home Depot has acquired Creative Touch Interiors. with design centers in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nv., as part of its Builder Solutions Group; Jeffery Sears continues as head of CTI ...

Home Depot, Woodland Hills, Ca., is being sued by a Gulf War veteran, who claims he and other black and Latino employees were subject to racial harassment

Home Depot will spend $3.7 billion in fiscal 2004 to open 175 new locations and upgrade older home centers ... the company plans to buy back as much as $1 billion in stock

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Lo u i s i ana - Pac ific, P ortland, Or., will begin construction this summer of an OSB mill jointly owned with Slocan; construction should take 12-18 months ...

Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wa., agreed to sell its Slave Lake, Alberta, OSB plant to Tolko Industries Ltd. for $43 million; the deal is set to close Feb.27

Superior Engineered Products Corp., Ontario, Ca.-based windown manufacturer, has been acquired by Atrium Cos., Dallas, Tx., for $52.5 million in cash and stock

Housing starts in December (latest figures) increased l.l%o to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.088 million ... single-family starts slipped 0.6Vo to 1.664 million, while multi-family starts (5+ units) were at a pace of 397,000 ... permits increased 3.37o to 1.924

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