By Patrick Tinney
A lot is written about the emotions that arise at the negotiation table. But what about the emotion the sales person is feeling from all the pressure of a “must win deal”?
One of the things that separates major corporate account management from local account management is this pressure. (I am sure the drums are starting to beat after local account managers read this statement.)
I have lived both sales roles as a local account manager, and a major corporate account manager, so I am sharing a “been there, done that” perspective.
Why is this pressure to close so different between local and corporate accounts? It is a progressive process. When a major account manager is working on a multi-million-dollar deal with a long-standing customer, and the customer does not get her/his way at the negotiation table, the heat begins. “We’re being difficult.” “The customer is not getting what they want.” Internal reports are written by the account manager, and senior management starts to take notice. This creates more heat.
When corporate sends word to the local account managers that “we need to make some changes,” a roaring flame goes under the local team, and pressure starts to build. Prices are reduced owing to a need to stay competitive, and both corporate and local markets must adjust their costs and spending budgets. Bigger flames, greater pressure.
If the deal with a large customer dies and millions of dollars are in play, in can result in job losses, the most damning and pressure-packed situation of all.
Back in the mid-1990s when I faced this pressure, a large deal for me was approximately $13 Million with a single account. There was no committee of signatures on the contract; it was just the customer’s signature and mine. The value of money doubles about every 7 to 10 years so think about the pressure in today’s dollars, and you get a sense of how many middle-income jobs were at stake if I lost a deal of this magnitude. I am being conservative when I say that well over 100 jobs were in play. This was big-time heat.
If you have never felt the cold sweat rolling down your back in the middle of a $13 million deal coming to closure, I can tell you that the pressure is almost indescribable. Days, weeks, and even months of preparation may be required to close a single deal. It is no fun waking up several times a night to leave yourself voicemail messages because you are too tired to make notes that would not be readable in the morning.
How can you deal with this pressure? In my book, Unlocking Yes, I have offered some simple lessons on how to handle this type of pressure, both physically and mentally. Here are a few:
One tip to reduce a physical sense of stress and pressure involves your jaw. Drop your jaw an inch and the stress in your face will reduce. You can drop your jaw without even opening your mouth. This technique has worked for me when I needed to take all of the stress out of my face. This jaw-drop technique gives you a sense of peace. Try it now. It works, doesn’t it?
The other is preparation. Before every meeting, get with your team and discuss the agenda. Map out speaking roles. Role-play the conversation. When you head into important customer meetings and negotiations, be the most prepared person in the room. It will give you physical and mental confidence to focus on the present and win. Pressure and stress can be managed.
Adapted from Patrick Tinney’s recently released book, The Bonus Round. Mr. Tinney is the founder and Managing Partner of Centroid Training and Marketing and author of Perpetual Hunger: Sales Prospecting Lessons & Strategy and “Unlocking Yes: Sales Negotiation Lessons & Strategy. Over his 30 year career Patrick has concluded multi-million dollar media sales and negotiation solutions for many of Canada’s largest advertisers and is one of the most published authors on business negotiation in Canada.
(Please share your own negotiation experiences below so, together, we can improve our negotiation mastery.)
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