A few years ago I visited a major customer along with one of my sales team. The Buyer we were due to see set the tone for the meeting by keeping us waiting for 30 minutes.
Once pleasantries had been exchanged we knuckled down and soon arrived at the heart of the issue. There was one product supply/price situation that was contentious. Both sides stated their position. He opted to go first. I listened and then stated our case.
I then stopped talking. We had reached that point where the next person to talk would probably have to concede something. I would have sat there silently for the rest of the day if necessary.
I’ve called it the golden silence but it is anything but. It can be uncomfortable but resist the temptation to step in and break the silence.
Eventually their Buyer did concede and in return I relaxed our position on some elements of the deal. This allowed him to retain ‘face’ internally.
When we exited the building my sales colleague was gushing.
” Do you know that no-one spoke for 2 whole minutes at one point?!”
This doesn’t sound a long time but it is for ‘just’ silence. However there will be a point in most negotiations when saying nothing is the right thing to do. Make sure you recognise when to stop talking.
(As I will now.)