How demonstrating value makes negotiation easier

The Quintessential Salesman

For many people, when they think of a salesman, the car salesman is the first to come to mind. Fast talking, and slick, he immediately began pressuring me to buy the car. But I was prepared for this. With one look at the sticker price, I let him know exactly what I was willing to pay to drive home in the car. At this point, the salesman could have done any number of things. He could have walked me through the car’s reliability, how little it would cost to operate it over time, shown me how great the gas mileage was, or asked me how I would use it to match the function to my needs. He could have created a dialogue to put the price in context of the value.

What he did instead was give me a flat no. There was no way he could let it off the lot for that amount, he told me. Just not possible. In response, I simply nodded, gave him my business card, and told him to call me if he changed his mind. I then casually walked back to my battered old truck, hopped in, and drove away.

You can’t always get what you want, but…

I’d barely gotten three blocks down the street before my cell phone rang. Jubilant, the salesman told me that he’d spoken to his manager and they could sell it for the price I was willing to pay. No further haggling or discussion, a complete and total capitulation. After letting them sweat it out until the morning, I did go back and buy that car. I paid way less than the asking price and am still driving it today. It’s provided an incredible amount of value to me and has never let me down. In short, their product was excellent, but they never attempted to demonstrate that at all. It was all down to price and the techniques I used to get what I wanted - worked like a charm.