October 24, 2023

1095: Master Proposal and Negotiation Avoidance with Mike Bosworth

43 minutes

Mike Bosworth is the author of Solution Selling and co-author of CustomerCentric Selling. Buyers have resistance to sellers and today, Mike shares 2 kinds of avoidance known as proposal avoidance and negotiation avoidance.

He discusses why sellers must work towards a pre-proposal review instead of dropping all the details and decision-making at the moment of the actual proposal. He then talks about negotiation avoidance and what you as a seller can do to get in the mind of the buyer to reach an agreement without ever having to negotiate.

HIGHLIGHTS

Proposal avoidance: Confirm all details in the pre-proposal review

Negotiation avoidance: The difference between cost and price justified

Don't negotiate with procurement

QUOTES

Proposals shouldn't have any new information in them so sell the pre-proposal review - Mike: "By selling them on the idea of a pre-proposal review a week before the proposal is due is when you do the surprise close. They haven't been thinking about risk. And if you leave, if I can, I'll probably say, 'see you next week with your proposal, Andy.' You're going to wake for the next 7 nights thinking about all the things that can go wrong. And so, we're avoiding that."

Before negotiating, provide 2 to 3 polite, business-logical nos first - Mike: "If, on the rare occurrence that the 2 or 3 polite nos wouldn't work, okay now we have to transition to a real negotiation. And, again, this all has to be thought about in advance. Then the transition is, ‘Well, Andy, the only possible way I could do anything for you is if you can do something for me.’"

Find out more about Mike in the link below: