American Staffing Association

Don’t be afraid to walk away. The greatest bargaining chip that your prospect or client has is knowing that you won’t, or can’t, walk away. Many times we make this obvious in the way we approach negotiations, telegraphing our need to win or retain their business. If you aren’t able or willing to walk away from a deal, you have lost all leverage in the negotiating process.

8

If clients or prospects have no other way
to differentiate potential service providers, then they
fall back on the only thing they can—price.
What sets your firm apart?

No matter how scary or undesirable it might feel, you have to enter and conduct negotiations with the willingness to walk away from the business. Just by adopting this mindset, you level the playing field and greatly improve your chances of getting the deal you want.

Be Creative and Do the Math

These are just a few ways you can improve your chances of a successful negotiation. Combine various tactics to customize each sales approach. Also, keep in mind that even seemingly small negotiations can have a substantial effect on your profitability.

For example, a $10 million company that improves its gross profit by just two points through better negotiating will see a $200,000

increase to its bottom line. It’s well worth the effort—and after mastering the fine art of negotiation, implementing sticky sales strategies won’t seem like much effort at all. n

Tom Erb is president of Tallann Resources, a staffing industry consulting firm. He is also president of the Ohio Staffing and Search Association, an ASA-affiliated chapter. Send your feedback on this article to success@americanstaffing.net. Follow ASA on Twitter @staffingtweets.