Cambridge Business Association
INKED
Book

INKED

The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics That Unlock YES and Seal the Deal

Jeb Blount
Wiley, 2020
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Applicable
  • Well Structured

Recommendation

In sales vernacular, salespeople want to “get ink” – that is, get prospects’ signatures on contracts. The trouble is that salespeople often find themselves at a disadvantage during negotiations. Buyers have more power, more alternatives and, almost always, superior training and skills in negotiation. Consequently, salespeople may struggle to negotiate sales contracts. Jeb Blount draws on his experience to teach readers negotiation skills that can help them have confidence and power as they bargain for ink.  

Summary

When negotiating, most salespeople let emotion dominate over reason.

Many salespeople are terrible negotiators. Often they have not learned to think logically or control their emotions during negotiations. Many salespeople are anxious when negotiating, and fearful of the possible negative consequences of saying or doing something ineffective.

Most salespeople receive little or no negotiation training. And, the scant negotiation training companies provide often is about negotiating in a vacuum, not about sales negotiations, and it has nothing to do with the overall sales process. However, your sales process and your negotiating strategy are tightly aligned, so treating negotiations as separate from sales doesn’t help the seller.

Often, negotiation instructors have no sales background, so they can’t relate what they’re teaching to the circumstances salespeople encounter in the field. As a result, such training usually does not help people close sales. The biggest reason salespeople often find themselves at a disadvantage during negotiations is because...

About the Author

Jeb Blount heads a global training organization, Sales Gravy, which publishes the SalesGravy.com website.

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