Negotiating a Sale

5. Making Concessions

Concessions should only be made to help you get the things you value. For example, immediate payment or large orders.

5.1 Do not indicate at the start that you are ready to concede.

• For example, do not offer a starting price of '£X or near offer'.

5.2 Do not make concessions too easily. You need to test how badly the customer wants them.

5.3 Link the deal. Make a concession on one deal in return for getting another deal settled. This puts the other side under pressure to settle both deals.

5.4 Use discounting carefully.

• In some industries, trade discounts are the norm and cannot be avoided.
• Do not give discounts just to buy goodwill. The customer will soon regard the discount price as normal and other customers may become resentful.
• Beware of giving discounts for immediate payment. Some customers will claim the discount and delay payment anyway.
• Encourage larger orders with bulk discounts.
• Offer retrospective discounts so customers concentrate their purchases with you.
• Be prepared to refuse a request for a discount if you know the customer really wants or needs your product.