Negotiating the best terms possible from salespeople

[purplepolarbear]

I'd like to get some training into how to negotiate the best terms possible from salespeople when I buy something on behalf of the company I work for. I'm increasingly asked to do this and I feel a little out of my depth against people who sell things every day for a living and that I could be doing better.

Can anyone recommend any courses / books / techniques etc. that they have used.

Thanks

[Vron]

We offer the best deals to people who commit eg bulk order or long term supply contract.

[bogie]

usually needs to be some competition for them to offer their best, you need 2 or 3 companies bidding for the same work ...then compare quotes in detail and focus on the things that mean the most to you

[Puggit]

Don't be afraid to walk away when the deal doesn't suit you, if you come back to the table the salesman will still sell to you.

Try and find out when the end-of-quarter is for the salesman, they will almost always give a better price to try and close the business in the final few weeks.

[The jiffle king]

Some easy tips which are basic sales techniques:
Don´t fill the silence and look at the person who is selling
As previously, 2-3 companies quoting, and explain ytour buying criteria... price, quality.
Don´t lie, cheat, or do anything disreputible... (Someone will find you out)
Do set the expectation of the seller... If they can sell in 1 meeting rather than 3, it would be much better for them

There are loads more, but keeping quiet in negotiations works quite well

[Vron]

swerni said:

The real key to negotiation is research.

Understand the market,
understand the realistic price points.
Have realistic objectives.

Selling is a two way process and price is only one the factors you have to consider.
If you always try and buy at the lowest price you will get crap service and companies wont like dealing with you.

If you do the research the rest is easy.

It amazes me the amount of buyers (professional MCIPS etc) I deal with who have no understanding whatsoever as to what the products and services I sell do. They concentrate on price only. I had one guy spouting on that the sales of one product I had sold to them had gone up by 300% so he wanted a discount (I had had to provide the sales figures too!) we were talking and increase of £50 to £150 on an annual spend of £100K.

[purplepolarbear]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I've ordered a copy of spin selling to see it from that side of the fence, and I'll take on board some of the other ideas you've mentioned.

[BEP]

Vron said:

swerni said:

The real key to negotiation is research.

Understand the market,
understand the realistic price points.
Have realistic objectives.

Selling is a two way process and price is only one the factors you have to consider.
If you always try and buy at the lowest price you will get crap service and companies wont like dealing with you.

If you do the research the rest is easy.

It amazes me the amount of buyers (professional MCIPS etc) I deal with who have no understanding whatsoever as to what the products and services I sell do. They concentrate on price only. I had one guy spouting on that the sales of one product I had sold to them had gone up by 300% so he wanted a discount (I had had to provide the sales figures too!) we were talking and increase of £50 to £150 on an annual spend of £100K.

The scenario you mention i've found is that the head of the company (normally from a sales background) can only understand things via price and he simply won't look at anything other than price.
I'm a buyer incidentally and have noticed that there aren't many of us who look at the bigger picture so to speak..
I consolidated a supply base last year of 9 suppleirs down to 3, got a good saving in straight financial terms, but upper areas of our company were surprised when I pointed out the reduced workload for accounts by having less paperwork and all the spin offs which resulted in cost reduction....so in short it's not always about the lowest price.