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10 MORE tips to help you negotiate your price

Written by: Jane Francis

Article Overview: When you present the quotation, some clients go quiet for a while before responding. Others react as if they’ve never seen or heard anything so preposterous. It is up to you to take control of negotiations, learn how to with these ten tips.

10 MORE tips to help you negotiate your price

1. Sell the discounts

Some people just love a bargain, in fact, they must get a bargain. Keep their attention on the $300 they will save, not the $6,000 they will be spending.

Most people relate to cash better than a percentage – three hundred dollars is far more meaningful that 5%!

Use price points to ease your customer through the psychological pain barrier - $9,999 looks a lot less than $10,000.00.

2. Ask them to make a counter proposal

Get your client to bring their ideas into the open. See how far apart you are. Do a reality check, go back to the original brief and specifications and check they are all mandatory. Since starting the purchase process it is possible your client may have altered his expectations.

3. Price bargain

‘If you want a better price, give me a better order.’ Search for joint benefits and win-win solutions. For example, you could lower the price if the customer does part of the job or pays you cash in advance.

It is in the nature of your customer to want all the discounts you give him. It is not his job, nor is he ever likely to tell you you’re too cheap.

4. Don’t drop your price before it is necessary

Don’t become too committed to your lowest price early on. Try to hold your price by giving them more value – an extended warranty, a free upgrade. You can always come down later but it’s difficult to go up.

If you give them something make sure they appreciate you more for it.

5. Leave yourself room to negotiate

Allow for contingencies. Give yourself the right to add or alter the quotation later if the client changes their mind in some way, or you have unexpected difficulties sourcing raw materials and the like. Put your conditions in writing to save any misunderstandings later.

6. Keep your objectivity

If the negotiation is overheating take time to think things over. Be wary of high pressure tactics. Give yourself an ‘out clause’ like referring to a higher authority (your boss, your lawyer, your mother) so you have time to take the deal away and review it.


7. Practice saying no, maybe, okay then

Negotiating is a two way process – you can dance to and fro for ages – but always keep in mind the bottom-line and be prepared to walk away. Use your intuition and don’t allow yourself to be bullied. You can always say no but do it in such a way that you leave the door open so you can change your mind and say ‘yes’ later if you think you might want to.

8. Listen for the ticking clock

One property investor buys a house every year in the week prior to Christmas. She gets a great deal and the owner goes on holiday able to make plans for the future. Make sure you know your client’s timeline and use this information to your advantage.

Also make sure your contract has specific time frames e.g. this quotation is valid until << date >>. You want to retain control over your time – this is your life.

9. Assume nothing

When you present the quotation, some clients go quiet for a while before responding. Others react as if they’ve never seen or heard anything so preposterous … You can never know for sure what they’re thinking. Ask as many questions as you can to try to find out and be confident you know why you charge what you do, what’s negotiable and what’s not.

10. Keep an open mind

If you find the market situation or your competitor’s tactics have changed you may need to recheck your facts. Don’t believe that you offer the right price for all time – do some research and intervene, if necessary.

Related Articles
  Stress-Free Selling® - Stop Giving Deals!
  Manage Your Salespeople by Working Smart, Negotiate Quotas
  Negotiation Checklist to Ensure a Successful Outcome
  Extended Warranties: Sensible Insurance or Waste of Money?
  Objections are Requests for more Information

Article Tags: boss, contingencies, extended warranty, free upgrade, job, lawyer, misunderstandings, negotiation, objectivity, pain barrier, pressure tactics, price bargain, proposal, psychological pain, quotation, raw materials, reality check, unexpected difficulties, warranty



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Re: How do you negotiate your rate or price? - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":28xzyavo]Just as an update, I've decided to take a tutoring position for less than I originally asked for. I figure I'll work at the lower rate to start and then prove that I'm worth the higher value by delivering results for the first client. Any tips on when to try to re-negotiate my price?[/quote:28xzyavo] This is something I always struggle with. In some instances you can use an "introductory price" and then raise it after a limited time. Donna
Never Neogtiate Price - I hate negotiating on price - like everyone else I'm sure. I'd rather find a part-time job to pay the bills than negotiate on price. When i did websites i made sure that I invested more time with the customer in the concept stage and in getting to know them a bit more. That investment in time in the early stages made them more comfortable to deal with me rather than another designer with cheaper prices because i gave them a sense of comfort that i knew exactly what they wanted and i would deliver. That comfort and trust i built was something you couldn't put a price on and it demonstrated higher value. I learnt this from a "Webdesign Business in a box" book I had purchased from Sitepoint. Aside from jumpstarting my Web business it also taught me some great interpersonal skills I still use today. Best investment I ever made.
Re: Matching competitors prices - beware - While I agree that getting into a price war should be avoided if possible... on rare occasions, it's not a bad idea to match someone's price (or even beat it) if you're doing it "one time" to land a new customer. For instance, I was recently looking for the best price on a [u:2rhwa2wg]specific[/u:2rhwa2wg] flight to NY and a customer service rep from Flight Centre ended up taking zero commission to help me book my flight. In fact, she even beat the price by $5 in the hopes of creating brand loyalty for the future.
Re: need pricing help please - I think you could be selling yourself short. Plus you may be focused on the wrong things when it comes to pricing your products. What will your buyers be able to do or get as a result of your product? How much would that be worth to them? Buyers will gladly pay over $100 for a one page report because it tells them exactly what to do to overcome a specific difficult to solve problem. Even when that information can be found free elsewhere. I know it's hard not to compare your eBook to a physical book. Yet, that may not be a fair comparison. Another thing to consider is the perceived value when a product that sounds great comes with a very low price. Some potential buyers will doubt the value of your product because the price seems way too low for the result it promises. There's a quick and easy way for you to discover the right price though. Open a Google Adwords account ($5) and then set-up a multi-variant test for different price points. If you have a decent amount of traffic you'll quickly discover the best price.


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