Clint Babcock

Have you ever been emotionally invested in a sales call? I know I have. Guess what happens when we enter into a negotiation situation when we are emotionally involved?

You might be thinking, I'm an adult, so I can keep my emotions in check when I need to. But frankly, that assumption could be costing you and them top line revenues and gross margin.

Do you have a process? If you think about it, the things you do successfully every day have some rhyme or reason. Even improv comedy performers, whose art relies on making things up on the spot, have a system they utilize to make these performances funny. 

Navigating negotiations in sales is like being part of an intricate, ongoing conversation where every word, pause, and expression can swing the balance. It ultimately affects your bottom line, so you need to invest in your ability to negotiate like the pros if you want to get paid like one. 

Two prevalent negotiation tactics are Good Person/Bad Person and Promise of Escalation. Both require a keen ear and a steady, strategic response.

In the nuanced chess game of negotiation, the line between success and setback often hinges on your ability to hear or read what someone is saying and to see it for what it actually is: a tactic.

Seasoned negotiators will...

From playing on the playground as kids to negotiating in a conference room as adults, social pressure affects us. After all, humans are social creatures! We crave acceptance. So much that we'll pay exorbitant sums of money, swipe endlessly, or even lie just to have companionship.

Unfortunately, this can be a liability in negotiation. And if you're negotiating with a professional, they know how to use social pressure against you. Luckily, there are tactics you can use to recognize, prevent, and even defend against those tactics.

If you've been in sales or negotiation for a long time, you know this process has more to do with who is on the other side of the table, more than what you're actually selling. Understanding—and more importantly, defending against—negotiation tactics can be the key to securing a deal that actually leaves you margin and gives your prospect or client the services they need.

In the fast-paced world of sales, hiring the right people can mean the difference between a thriving business or startup and one that's struggling to meet important deadlines. But, with many potential candidates and limited interview time, how do you sift through the noise and identify the true top producers for your team?

Here’s my secret to interviewing a salesperson: the two-question interview.

In the world we live in, where the pace is just relentless, and the stakes seem to rise with every hour, the best in the business understand: you have to stay the course. 

In my early days as a professional, I quickly learned the importance of resilience. There have been plenty of challenges, but the things that were so rewarding and beneficial to me were the things that took a lot of work. 

You may feel like you have no problem failing because it feels like it comes so much easier than success. But have you dug deep into what you need to learn from failure to get to your next big success? This is a question that can transform your life if you allow it.

The issue isn't the failure itself. It's that we often don't understand the essence of failure; the lessons embedded in those hard knocks. Sandler's first rule simply states, "You have to learn to fail to win." It's not an oxymoron. It's a profound truth that many successful people understand.

Effective leadership isn't an accident. It happens when business leaders take a strategic approach of incremental growth over time to improve. While some quick gains may be possible, ongoing improvement is how leaders mold teams are incredibly effective.