If you manage a team of sales representatives, keeping their skills sharp should be a constant effort, and new training techniques can help your sales team hone their negotiation skills for any industry. A negotiating seminar can be an incredible learning experience for any sales team, but it’s important to have some idea of what to expect if you would like your sales team or negotiation group to attend one.
Attending a negotiating seminar can not only help your team negotiate more effectively, but also better understand the fundamentals of negotiation and put them into practice more naturally. Negotiation may follow a framework, but every interaction and negotiation will play out differently. Ensuring your sales team can adapt to different situations and effortlessly implement various negotiation techniques will help you achieve more successful outcomes with your future negotiations.
What to Expect from a Modern Negotiating Seminar
Heavy-handed negotiation tactics are no longer the norm in modern business dealings. While authoritative and even aggressive business tactics may have been the industry standard, today’s negotiations require more diplomacy and forging personal connections. If you decide to send your team to a sales training program or a negotiating seminar, they should learn how to hone the fundamentals of more effective negotiating:
- Preparation prior to the negotiation and taking time to provide measured, calculated responses during the negotiation. Some sales negotiators may become too focused on a specific result to remain flexible during a negotiation, while others may seem stunned or at a loss for words if the other side “goes off script” with a suggestion they didn’t expect. Knowing the opposition before entering a negotiation is an incredible advantage and knowing how to formulate a proper response before blurting out the first thing that comes to mind is another.
- Probing for additional information and learning how to draw out the other side’s true intentions during a negotiation. It’s not uncommon for someone at the negotiation table to be very withholding when it comes to their intentions. Learning how to effectively probe for information before and during negotiations can help avoid Win-Lose or Lose-Lose scenarios.
- Proposing terms that, if accepted, ensures all participants in the negotiation step away from the table feeling like winners. A negotiation seminar can teach your sales team how to craft more effective, well-rounded proposals that speak to the other side’s needs and expectations rather than simply selling your own side of the offer.
- How to effectively work toward Win-Win scenarios. Modern business requires networking, and a skilled negotiator should not only be able to walk away from the negotiation table with a positive result but also having made a valuable connection that can open the door to future opportunities.
A solid negotiating seminar will not only teach your sales team how to negotiate more effectively but also how to build value for your organization through more successful negotiations. These programs can also help your team identify gaps in their negotiation skillsets so they can grow into more effective members of your organization and provide lasting value.
What Changes Should I Expect to See in My Team After They Attend a Negotiating Seminar?
If time permits, sit down with your team to discuss lessons learned during the negotiating seminar. Find out what they felt was most helpful and what they felt the seminar was lacking, if anything. You should expect to hear positive feedback about the experience and how they think it helped their negotiation skills.
Once you have discussed everything learned during the seminar, start looking for your team to put these lessons learned into practice. Consider participating in their negotiations or sitting in on phone calls with potential customers to see how they put their newfound tactics into practice. Try to determine which steps your negotiation group members have taken to correct their known weaknesses in their negotiation tactics and how they respond to unexpected variables.
Negotiating Seminars Can Be Incredible Investments in Your Sales Team
The goal of any sales team is to build value for the organization. Negotiation skills are essential for any sales professional and building upon those skills over time is inherently a long-term investment into the future of the organization. Negotiating seminars are great training tools that allow your negotiation group to learn from seasoned professionals, sales leaders, and even psychological experts who can help them better understand the fine machinations at work during every negotiation.
If you are interested in ways to improve your team’s negotiation skills, take time to investigate negotiating seminars and what they could offer your sales team. Building confidence, learning how to conduct proper opposition research, and preparing effectively can help your negotiation group not only have more successful negotiations but also more personable ones that could potentially lay the groundwork for valuable and long-lasting professional relationships.
