At the end of a tough negotiation I could see the visiting sales team were really happy to be ‘escaping’ as we arrived back at our reception.
“David, thanks for your time. We’ll get back to you about those outstanding issues.”
This is when the “Oh, by the way” procurement strategy should kick in. As the sellers turn to exit your reception you hit them one last time.
“Oh, by the way. One last question before I forget. You’re OK to extend payment terms to 90days*, aren’t you?”
* Insert any other issue here.
So keen are the sellers to escape your clutches that they will agree to virtually anything in this situation. We adopted this strategy to extract the last drops of value from many suppliers.
I achieved many concessions in our reception because the sellers thought the meeting had finished and had dropped their guard.
Procurement people are smart. Sales people need to be on the top of their game throughout all aspects of the visit; even on the way out.
The obvious answer is to say that you will look into the issue and get back to the customer in due time. Don’t agree to anything in the reception unless it is just a cup of coffee.
For more on ‘Selling to Buyers’ contact me at david@gradient.uk.com