Escalating Negotiations to the Sales Director

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‘Escalating Negotiations to the Sales Director’ comes from the Free Guide – The Biggest 8 Mistakes Suppliers Make When Selling to the Big 4 UK Supermarkets And How to Avoid Them All’:

The Mistake 

In over 1,000 negotiations with Key Account Managers, those negotiations that mattered were escalated. Escalated for 1, or all, of these 5 reasons:

  • The Account Manager and the Sales Director had not agreed on the boundaries for the Account Manager to negotiate within.
  • This was how they’d always done things. ‘Big’ negotiations were raised up the chain.
  • The Account Manager did not want the responsibility of possibly ‘cocking it up’.
  • The Sales Director lacked faith in the Account Manager to get a good result.
  • There was confidence in numbers, so they decided to negotiate as a team.

The Consequences 

For the Buyer, the messages were that by dealing with the Sales Director you could either get a better deal. Or that the Sales Director had no faith in the Account Manager (So why was I dealing with him/her anyway?!). Or the Account Manager did not have what it took to run a £xm account. Either way, the messages were negative.

How to Avoid 

Supermarket Buyers are trained in negotiation to within ‘an inch of their lives’ because this is what they do – Negotiate. Account Managers are less so, unless they work for the larger branded companies. The simplest and one of the most effective negotiating tools is, ‘If you…, then I…’. In this 1-minute video you can hear how to use this tool.

We’ve all heard of empowerment, yet the Account Managers seem not to be. Agree the boundaries for the negotiation, with your Line Manager, before you begin. Plus, discuss what you will do to avoid the next negotiation being escalated.

This book is highly recommended because it will help Account Managers to understand practical Negotiation Skills. Whether they are new and need to learn the basics, or more experienced, and need refreshing on how to negotiate effectively.

Each Learner, on our Negotiation training programme, receives this book as ‘own time activity’ and also hears Simon Hazeldine talk about his top 7 practical tips on negotiating. This programme is 6 months of 4 days, with own time activities in between because one day training programmes have a limited effect.

‘Bare Knuckle Negotiating’

Simon Hazeldine's 7 practical tips on negotiating skills book cover
Get this practical book for free in our Negotiation Training program

 

We recommend this book because it is very practical. It is also given away to all Learners on our negotiation skills training course.
The above proven, simple, and effective solution is No.2 in the Free Guide that you can download:
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Negotiating Skills Articles and ContentNegotiation Skills TipsNegotiation Techniques

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