Getting Your Feet Wet in Negotiations: Tips for Beginners

Dear Readers, we are going to start our New Topic “Getting your Feet Wet” about Part 1 ( Yes, You Can )

Let me Reconstruct the scenario. You, your spouse, and your two children are at a Sears Store confronted whose asking price is more than you can afford to pay. Yet you want that refrigerator. Is it worth negotiating for? If your answers to the three questions that closed the last chapter were yes, you should proceed full speed ahead. But how? What can you say and do?

Generating Competition

To begin with, don’t define yourself too narrowly. Don’t regard yourself as someone who wants to buy a refrigerator. Regard yourself as someone who wants to sell money.

Money is the product that’s up for sale. The more people there are who want your money will buy. How do you get people to did for that money? You generate competition for it.

Staying with the Sears situation, a foolproof way to generate competition for your money is to inform the salesman that rival outlets have a comparable model at a lower price. The fact that rival outlets are eager to accept your money gives you instant leverage … as does the fact that Sears is often in competition with itself.

You find it astonishing that Sears can Compete with itself? Just examine the catalogue displayed in the same store. There, right in the middle of a large-appliances page, is the same refrigerator for $440 plus a $26 delivery charge. Show that page to the salesman, then start negotiating.

Satisfying Needs

You have other options, and they pivot on the satisfaction of your needs, real or fictionalized. In a fundamental sense, every negotiation is for the satisfaction of needs. Sears presents you with a $480.75 asking price that meets its needs … but what about yours? 

After all, you’re the other party in the Transaction. Ideally, both parties should win, or come out ahead, when a transaction is consummated.

There are several ways you can stop the Sears salesman into a keen awareness of your needs. You can ask, “What colors does this Model come in?” If the salesman replies, ” ” “32,” you say, “What are they?” When he finishes telling you, you exclaim, “That’s it? Those are the only colors you have?”   

When he says, “Yes just what are you looking for?” you explain, “We have a psychedelic kitchen. These colors are much too square. They’d clash! I hope you’ll make some adjustment in the price.”  

A second way to express your needs is to discuss the refrigerator’s icemaker. You comment, “I notice this model comes with a built-in icemaker.“

The salesman replies, “Yes, it does. It’ll make cubes for you 24 hours a day, for only 2 cents / hour!” ( Note that he’s made a totally unwarranted assumption about your needs.)

You counter this false assumption by saying, “That presents a Difficult Problem. One of my kids has a chronic sore throat. The doctor says: ‘Never any ice! Never!’ Could you possibly remove the icemaker?” 

He retorts, “But the icemaker’s the whole door!“

You say, “I know … but what if i promise not to use it? Shouldn’t that affect the price?” 

A third way to express your needs – and your dissatisfaction with the refrigerator’s features – is to discuss its door. You can say, “This model swings open from the left. My family’s right-handed.” Comments like this indicate to the salesman that your needs aren’t being met fully. Therefore, his needs shouldn’t be totally satisfied.

Going on Sale

You can also ask, “When is it going on sale?” or “Did I miss the sale?” The assumption is that, if it’s not currently on sale, it either will be or just was. There’s no earthly reason why you should be penalized for awkward timing.

“A Little Blemish Here!”

An extremely effective opinion you can employ is the Old Floor-model Technique. The Floor-Model Technique has 2 aspects. With aspect number 1, you walk up to the refrigerator, examine it intensely while the salesman stares at you, and mutter, “I notice a little blemish here!“
The salesman replies, “I don’t see anything.” 
You persist, “There seems to be a little nick … a tiny blemish on the side. In fact, as the light hits it, I notice there are multiple Blemi on the side of the Refrigerator. Is there no multiple blemi discount?” 

What if there are no multiple blemi on the refrigerator? You can always make blemi. ( I’m not covering ethics now. I’m dealing with options, even if I’m doing it tongue in cheek.)

Remember the kid with the hockey stick and the puck? Have him work on his slap shot closer to the refrigerator.

Aspect Number 2 of the floor-model technique is known as the ITD, short for internal-trauma discount. The implication is that there must be imperfections within a floor model. Perhaps they’re not visible to the naked eye, but they’re there. After all, people have been opening and closing that refrigerator’s door and fingering its trays and compartments for months.

The Floor Model’s like a street walker who’s been around the block several times: one of the walking wounded, suffering from the internal stress of being manhandled. Because of this, you’re entitle to an internal-trauma discount, or standard ITD.

Well, Readers we have discussed some of the Points in this Topic Today as this Topic has so much to discuss so it would be a long one so we will discuss it in Parts and in Part 2:

Getting Your Feet Wet in Negotiations: Tips for Beginners (Part 2)

we will Continue this Topic and Discuss Further “Off-Tackle Slant“

is the Next Technique we will discuss.

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