AMC Newsletter February 2019: Do you sell your ideas easily or are you easy to sell to?

Hm… Sales… Negotiating...
I could never deal with sales, not a single day of my life!
I am not a sales person.
I am not involved in sales, I am the Production Manager.
I work in the HR department, we do not negotiate with clients.
Our company has a long-term cooperation with well-known clients only.
People involved in sales manipulate others.
I am the owner of the company, I do not negotiate.
We do not need negotiating skills in the accounting department.
Do you agree with any of the above statements?
Do you possibly hav any of those beliefs yourself?
Maybe, but only maybe, if we were now in the eighties of the past century it would even be understandable to agree, but today…
What would you say for the statement:
We are all sales persons and we sell every day!
I am not thinking here only about sale of products or services, but about selling yourself – your ideas, values, wishes and goals.  There is not a single positive experience that you have in your life so far, and you have acquired it without using negotiation skills or skills of influence.

When do we start using negotiation skills? Notice how children are excellent negotiators. They know exactly which influence technique to use in a toy store in order to close the sale.  Children ask the right questions, they know how to overcome your rejection, they do not accept no as an answer and they know exactly who decides about the purchase.    

Adults do not only sell ideas to people in their surroundings, but to themselves as well. When you want others to trust you, then it is important you radiate self-confidence and faith in yourself.  If you do not convince yourself first that you can and deserve, you will not succeed in communicating it to others.  Sometimes that means that you will behave more experienced and self-confident, even though you are not on the well-known terrain and then people around you will start accepting you in that way as well.

Think about whether the negotiation and sales skills are needed only to the chosen ones or are you already using them if you wish and need to influence anyone from your surroundings.

During our negotiation training this Friday and Saturday, we will pay special attention on distinguishing between influencing and manipulating. 

Manipulation means I know what I want, and I will achieve it despite your interests. Influence says I know what I want and in order to achieve that, it is necessary that I find out what you want so that we can discover our mutual needs and goals which we will achieve through cooperation.

This attitude and belief regarding negotiation and sales build a relationship based on mutual trust and respect, which as a result leads to successful long-term partnerships: