February: Only 28% of reps hit quota, in a recent poll.
MONDAY UNFILTERED
Don’t get down on yourself from a slow start.
Revenue lags hard work.
Long year ahead!
📚 – 30 Podcasts for AEs / SDRs [1 min]
CONTENT OF THE WEEK
📝 – Color Coding and Time Blocking [1 min]
💸 – 7 small but powerful email prospecting tips [1 min]
My 7 Rules for Negotiation
Selling to CRO’s and VPs of Sales makes you get strong at negotiation, fast.
I closed $1.4M at Gong in 2023… giving an extra 10% discount would cost me $140K in revenue.
Shit adds up and I’ve learned deals are rarely just about ‘price.’
My 7 rules for negotiation:
1. Never negotiate before the 1-yard line
If you cave on the pricing during call #1, that is the new bar for pricing moving forward.
Always hold firm on what ‘approved’ pricing is until they are fully ready to move forward, outside of price.
2. Always confirm vendor of choice
Before you entertain negotiating, always confirm that outside of price, your solution is their preferred vendor.
If you are negotiating on price and they aren’t yet set on your solution, you need to go back to value.
3. Don’t use discounting as a crutch
If you did not run strong discovery or build a strong business case, discounting won’t save you.
Get back to value and take a step back when needed.
Slow down, to speed up.
4. Never negotiate over email
There are too many intricacies like confirming vendor of choice and learning what’s most important to them, to try to negotiate over anything other than a live call.
If they truly want to partner with you, they should have no issue jumping on a live call so you can learn what’s most important to them.
5. Never assume pricing is most important
Newsflash – the contract costs your prospect zero dollars. It costs their company money.
Your prospect doesn’t always care about pricing the most. It could be cash flow (billing terms), ensuring it’s a success (extra support, implementation) or anything else.
Run discovery and don’t assume.
6. Always be consultative and work together
You’re thinking about it wrong if you’re trying to squeeze every dollar in a deal.
Be consultative, curious, and learn what would get them excited about starting a partnership.
7. Never negotiate with a non decision maker
Imagine this – you give up 15% on pricing, agree to semi-annual terms, and reduce their term to a 1 year agreement.
Then your champion comes back to you with a list of additional asks the next day.
You’re begging for them to take ‘another bite of the apple’ if you negotiate with anyone other than someone who can sign / authorize.
If this was helpful, check out:
- Show with me + JC Pollard on Negotiation [30 min]
- Jason Bay + Me on Menu of “Gives” and “Gets” [2 min]
