How to END a negotiation 🫵
It used to drive me CRAZY when I’d be negotiating final terms with a customer…
I’d think we were done. Price, term length, payment terms, etc all agreed.
But then “we just need this other thing…”
And then a couple days later “this slightly better price”
And so on…
So I changed how I project-manage the very end of the negotiation process and reduced it by prob like 80%...
What you do is: at the end of the negotiation call, make the champion go back to their decision maker and get approval for ALL final terms BEFORE you go back and get final confirmation from your CFO/deal desk that those terms are 100% approved.
For example, let’s say you presented price last week. You’ve been going back and forth a bit. You hop on a call.
The customer says they really need the price reduced down to $40,000…
(and for the sake of the example, let’s assume you’re fine with that price)
Rather than saying you think you can prob get that approved and offering to go take it to your CFO or whatever as a next step…
Try this talk track:
Okay… I can definitely ask…
Can we do this… let’s run through all the terms. And then maybe you just confirm with your CXO that IF those are the final terms that they’re ready to move forward with those terms?
Does that work?
Because that way I can go to my CFO and say ‘look, their CXO has said if we can do X, Y, and Z, they are confirmed ready to move forward and will sign by next Friday’...
[while I’m saying this, I watch their body language for nodding, etc and then assuming they seem positive, which most people will, I go right into project management mode]
Okay… so maybe I’ll plan to chat with my CFO like EOD tomorrow? Does that work? Do you think you can chat w your CXO between now and then? And just Slack me or whatever once you have the greenlight and I’ll get confirmation on my end…
This is most of what you need to do to avoid non-stop asks.
In summary:
Step 1: present price
Step 2: negotiate final terms
Step 3: make customer get DM sign off
Step 4: THEN you confirm if your CFO/deal desk will approve
Upcoming Live Sales Training: STOP losing deals to “no budget” ⚖
Tomorrow! Tues, 9/22 @ 12p
45 min live webinar where we’ll discuss how to sell in a way that avoids this objection in the first place AND what to do if and when it comes up anyway. Lots of talk tracks and scenario examples. Free, of course.
Sign up here → https://luma.com/qewmb81e
How should you answer “what are your comp expectations?” in a job interview? 📈
I got to thinking about this after chatting with an EXTREMELY impressive AE last weekend.
Me: “what do you want to make in your next role?”
Him: “$220,000”
Me: “uhhhhh… I think you can get way more”
Now sure… if you’re talking to us at Repeatability you can safely assume we’ll shoot you straight (in either direction), like in this example.
But sadly, I think we’re in the minority.
A lot of recruiters and hiring managers use a question like this to EITHER figure out how little they can get away with paying you OR mindlessly disqualify you from a role if you say a number that’s too high.
AND most sellers squander the opportunity to USE their answer to make them appear even more exciting as a candidate.
So me, if I were interviewing and had to answer, I’d say something like:
I would say OTE isn’t my MAIN focus when I think about comp for my next role.
Above all, I’m focused on earning potential. What current reps are making, how pipe gen is going, PMF, etc
Really, I’d want to be in a role where the top reps have the potential to really make at least $X00,000.
And I don’t have a hard and fast number on base salary… it will depend on the role, team, etc where I might want to flex up a bit if there’s more risk and I would potentially take a bit less than in my perfect world if it’s an awesome opportunity.
At least, that’s roughly where I’d start.
It shows I’m thinking about the upside. It frames me as someone who is planning to be a top performer. And it’s just realistic. Most good candidates are flexible based on role quality/company hotness.
Anyhoo…. to wrap up the story: I told the candidate he was selling himself WAY too short at $220,000. Introduced him to an amazing role at an excellent company with a $300,000 OTE and he’s already into the second half of the process (and they love him).
New Remote AE Role, $200K-$300K OTE 🤖
We're kicking off a search this week for a company that has quietly built one of the best pipeline engines we've seen… and now needs more AEs to keep up with demand.
This repeat founder (with a big prior exit) has built a machine of a BDR org. They're adding AEs who can basically apply the win rate to the pipeline.
And the product is sick. It’s a classic “dollars at a discount” sale that BOTH solves a huge problem for the champion AND is easy to approve for the CFO.
Fully remote, $200K-$300K OTE (based on experience).
More to come as we kick off the search. Love to chat if you or someone in your network wants a first look.