Mastering Focus in Negotiations: Boost Your Closing Rate and Navigate Buyer Concerns | SOS Ep. 346

Send us a text

Are you ready to break free from the distractions and diversions that are costing you deals? Let us guide you through the labyrinth of sales negotiations with practical advice drawn from our early career missteps. We've been where you are - caught in a whirlwind of tangential discussions, driven off-course by the prospect. By sharing these personal experiences, we shed light on the importance of maintaining razor-sharp focus on your end goal.

Support the show

To connect with the show: Subscribe, Download & Share!

Would appreciate a 5-Star Rating if deserved on Spotify & Apple Podcasts!!!

Connect with Mike:
[e-mail]
LinkedIn: Mike O'Kelly | LinkedIn

Click to join: Surviving Outside Sales Page on LinkedIn
______________________________________________________________________
If you are in outside sales and have had any of the following:

- New to Outside Sales
- New to an industry, new product, new territory - any type of change
- Experienced, but have lacked training and business development
- Seasoned but feel like you have hit your ceiling and need a reboot

If any of those descriptions sound like you or someone you know,

If you want to have a conversation about:

- Scheduling a strategy call for your next move
- Help building your business or territory

Reach out to me:

Schedule a FREE consultation

or https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-o-kelly-44ba352b/
[e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, thank you for everybody who's been
listening.
I mentioned before, april was arecord shattering month.
Hoping to do the same in May.
So I'm asking you to download,share this with a like my
individual or two, and haveconversations about these topics
.
All right, so we're now into.
We're going to talk today aboutnegotiations and getting into
the negotiation.
All right.

(00:23):
Now, one of the things that I'veheard a lot of and this has
happened to me earlier in mycareer was losing focus in a
negotiation.
Okay, and when you are, whenyou're in a negotiation and
you're trying to close a deal,the goal, the end zone, is the

(00:45):
only thing that matters.
And what happened was I, earlyin my career, I would allow the
prospect to get us off course.
So if they asked a question orthey made a statement that was
on a tangent, I would respond tothat as opposed to getting back
on track, because I thought,well, I'll just get them back on

(01:08):
track later.
No, it's amazing how you get onone tangent and then there's a
second tangent and then there'sa third and the person has
completely forgotten why they'reeven talking to you.
So it's very important whenyou're in a negotiation, it's
very important to stay focused.
Stay focused on the goal.
Now, you don't want to be rude,but if they ask a question, you

(01:29):
have to answer the question andsay but, and then whatever
follows that, but you got tobring it back to the negotiation
, or and you can use a lot ofdifferent words or so you answer
the question.
So, going back to what we were,what we were mentioning, you

(01:54):
have to redirect it back to thetopic at hand.
I've seen a lot of deals gosouth because the buyer has got
so many things on their mind andthey're not at the same place
that you are.
Remember, the buyer's journeyis not the same as the seller's
journey.
The seller's journey is tryingto get from A to close, from A

(02:16):
to Z, as fast as possible.
That's not what the buyer isthinking.
The buyer might have a bunch ofstuff that pops up and they
might start asking questions.
Answer the questions becausethey're valid and then redirect
them back to the goal, thepurpose of closing the deal, the

(02:37):
goal at hand, and don't worryabout anything else that's going
on in your life.
Your life could be crumblingaround you, but you have a job
to do.
It doesn't matter what happenedin the last sales call.
Focus on this one as if it's theonly sales call you've ever
made and you're only going tomake.

(02:58):
Don't put pressure on yourselfthat, oh, I've got to close this
.
No, just focus on your process.
If you focus on your processand you don't press, you don't
stress, you're going to looklike the cool, calm, collected
person and your buyer is goingto pick up on that.
Because your buyer is pickingup on your body language, your

(03:19):
energy, the tone of your voice.
You want to be calm andconfident.
You don't want to sound verysalesy and pressurized and
that's why it takes extremefocus and the one of the best
things to do is, just before yougo in, just remind yourself

(03:41):
what is the goal.
The goal is to get the deal done.
Great, how do we do that?
What are the three things thathave to happen in this meeting?
Maybe it's two, maybe it's one,but there's usually a couple of
things that have to happen in ameeting for a deal to get
closed.
Focus on those.
That is what you should betalking about.

(04:05):
If there's anything that youknow is going to derail
negotiation, write that down andsay I tell you what.
Let's discuss that at adifferent time.
I'm happy to go into depth withyou on that, but push that off,
possibly for another meeting.

(04:26):
But you got to gauge theirreaction.
If they're kind of turned offby that and say, okay, I'll tell
you what it seems like it'simportant to you, let's talk
about it right now.
I don't want to spend a wholelot of time on it because I know
you're busy and I'm busy.
We both have meetings after this, so I wanted to make sure we
got to everything that youwanted to talk about.

(04:47):
There's nuances in everything,but you really want to just stay
focused.
Turn your cell phone on silent.
That's a great way to stayfocused is turn your cell phone
on silent or off Until you getno notifications whatsoever.
That is a great way to makesure 100% that you're not

(05:10):
interrupted.
Focus and be present where youare.
Don't think about anything else.
Don't think about the closebefore it happens.
Be present in each and everystep of the process and each and
every moment.
I guarantee you your conversionand close rate will skyrocket.
Reach out to me, micah,surviving Outside Sales, if you

(05:30):
want to get in touch with me andlet me know what you thought
about that tip.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Surviving Outside Sales.
Bye-bye.