Master the Art of Negotiations with Supplier :
How to Crush Your Fears, Develop Your Negotiation Muscle, and Gain Power for your Export Business
HOW TO NEGOTIATE LIKE A PRO -
Negotiation is a process where at least two parties with different but complementing goals discuss over an issue to find a mutually beneficial and acceptable solution and conclusion.
Negotiations happen unconsciously in our day to day activities. There is no successful investor, trader or exporter that has not mastered the art of negotiation. You can choose to negotiate without actually learning its skills but you will be like one driving a car without first learning how to drive.
Mastering the art of negotiation does not mean you will always get what you want, but it will help you get the maximum benefit out from the negotiating table.
Actively and deliberately learning negotiation skills and strategies will make you an effective and efficient negotiator.
NEGOTIATE YOUR WAY TO ROCK BOTTOM PRICES
Understanding the art of negotiation and mastering its inherent skills is of innumerable benefits to exporters. As a matter of fact it's importance to exporters and traders cannot be overemphasized especially in today's world where price is constantly fluctuating and terms of trade are constantly changing. Majority of suppliers practice price discrimination and will give you a rock bottom price, only if you can successfully convince them to.
Excellent negotiating skills can achieve but not limited to the following;
° Getting your supplier to agree to rock bottom prices that guarantees profit.
° It helps you agree on remarkable terms of trade that gives you a competitive edge in the market.
° Good negotiating skills can help you avoid future problems and conflict with your business partners
° Excellent negotiating skills can make you earn the respect of your business partners and therefore earn their trust.
Learning and understaffing negotiation can build confidence and foster good relationship with business partners.
On a hypothetical negotiation table all options on deck are similar to a full cake and negotiators have come to discuss and take a share of the cake based on the conclusions from their negotiation. The better equipped you are with negotiation skills the larger the share of the cake you’ll get.
NEGOTIATIONS NOT HANDLED CORRECTLY CAN BLOW UP IN YOUR FACE
Poor negotiations skills will undoubtedly result in loss and have negative impact on the business. Many businesses are not bagging the deals they want neither are they able to negotiate favourable prices from their supplies not because it's impossible but because they've not mastered the art of negotiation.
Do not go into a negotiation without understanding pre-negotiation skills and without having a proper negotiation strategy. Not all suppliers and business can give you good deals, but a proper pre-negotiation analysis Will let you know beforehand good suppliers that have the potential of benefiting your business
Here are some of the problems encountered when going into a negotiation without proper understanding;
° confusing negotiation with confrontation can grossly affect your business reputation and stall a developmental relationship between you and your business partners
°Negotiations entered into by an unskilled negotiator can quickly be become overridden with unnecessary emotions and irrationality
°Negotiations entered into without appropriate communication skills will yield misunderstanding among parties and cause unfavourable results
°Unethical approach to negotiation can deal a blow to a future relationship with the other party on the negotiation table
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IMPRESSIVE NEGOTIATION SKILLS CAN ONLY BE GOTTEN FROM EXPERIENCE COUPLED WITH INTENSE STUDY AND RESEARCH
After years of my experience negotiating deals, prices, leasing agreement, tariffs and other financial assets across several industries including the exporting industry. I made pre negotiation and post negotiation points.
Pre-Negotiation
Analyze and prepare for potential negotiable issues, topics and contentions. You must anticipate points that will be raised by the opposing party on the negotiation table and prepare proper response.
Carryout a brief research before negotiation starts. Get proper knowledge of products and export industry, the more knowledge you have the stronger your negotiating power. You can’t get all information about the industry but you should get all information available within your reach, as the negotiations progress, more information will come to light.
Enquire and try to understand the supplier’s mood before going in for negotiation. A good mood aids negotiation but a bad mood makes favorable negotiations difficult. Negotiation should be avoided by all means when supplier is not in good mood.
Get proper knowledge and adequate information about all goods, services and options available before entering into negotiation.
Get adequately prepared, get all business-related documents ready and business cards, this shows professionalism.
NEGOTIATION PROPER -
Product knowledge and effective communication skills are required effectively when negotiating. Communication is important in negotiation. Attentive listening is as important as persuasion when speaking
Persuasion is a core aspect of negotiation. Grasping the logic of persuasion will help you negotiate and get your supplier to agree to rock bottom prices that will help you make a reasonable profit and accelerate business growth.
You must understand that the negotiation table is like a pizza. The pizza size will not increase you just need to learn how to get the maximum share from the pizza. This is an integral part of negotiation skills.
Building up relationships with the supplier have been proven to work over the years and have helped our clients who are exporters to secure remarkable deals with their suppliers. So always buy some gift like some famous snacks from your city for suppliers to build up your relationships
Well tailored negotiations skills and strategies can help you secure the trust of giant suppliers and can help you get credit facilities from them that will jump start your startup growth.
A first impression displaying professionalism and high level of understanding during negotiation can help you seal unbelievable deals with large suppliers that will greatly improve your business. Always say that you have a market or you will fight like a tooth and a nail for its products, never tell that you only need to buy its products but say you will help them by providing the market access to overseas market. He should feel like you consider him as your business partner.
Note the details of the negotiations process either by recording the conversation or jotting down key points. It’s important to go through this after the first round of negotiation so as to have a stronger position and be better informed in the penultimate rounds of negotiations.
Communicate your genuine price problem with your supplier, let him understand the maximum price your buyer is willing to pay and how he can help you reduce the price to keep your market loyal to you. Explain to him how it’s a win win situation for both of you. Never ask your supplier to reduce the price over and over again but say that your buyer can effort to pay only this much then how you can do the business in this or what are the strategies to do the business in this, he will automatically provide you info with some ways to reduce the price or will provide you the products at the competitive price
POST NEGOTIATIONS -
Always go through the notes or voice recording that was taken during negotiation, they can help you to be better informed when going for another round of negotiation with the same supplier or another supplier.
Keep good relationship with suppliers even after negotiations , whether you buy from them or not. Send them greetings once in a while and on festival periods, this will ensure they keep you in mind and prepare the grounds for a better future relationship with them
Never stop researching on old suppliers and new suppliers, be up-to-date with information about other suppliers and their prices, so you can identify the best prices in the market and have more bargaining information.
Always keep your supplier up-to-date if you want to keep getting favorable terms from them. Let them be informed about your efforts to sell the goods overseas and your efforts at expanding your markets, although keep your importers and buyers information anonymous.
WE HAVE THE MARKET, YOU HAVE THE GOODS
Success in the first-time negotiation between you and your supplier is very important in securing the deal you want.
A moderately lifted up chick, a short direct glance at the eyes of your supplier coupled with a soft smile in between conversations shows confidence and high understanding. Suppliers like to strike deals with exporters who are confident and knows well about the business. Exporters Facial expressions are also very important to win the negotiations battle.
Let the supplier know you already have a market ready for the sale and distribution of the products. They are eager to sign deals and will give competitive prices to exporters who have the market ready. They know this leads to increase in turnover.
Let the supplier understand that you are willing to discover resources in expanding and finding more markets to sell products and goods. This show willingness and desire to grow.
Specify a time frame for the availability of your market, let the supplier know that your buyer and importers are on a time frame and will seek other sellers if you delay unnecessarily but make it clear that they most definitely prefer to buy from you.
LETS GET THIS DEAL DONE FAST
You are on a deadline and will be constantly getting competing quotes from other suppliers. Remember that you will not win all battle but you will learn from every negotiation you do with your supplier. As an Exporter try to gain maximum knowledge about your products and be ready with your business registration documents, don’t wait to gain the complete knowledge, this is practically impossible without entering and doing business for years. SO START with what you have, your knowledge and experience will increase once you start calling suppliers. SO PICK UP YOUR PHONE AND START MAKING LONG CONVERSION CALLES TO SUPPLIERS AND ARRANGE MEETING WITH THEM AFTER LOCKDOWN.