The Company Negotiators

Who scares salespeople more, their managers, or their buyers? No contest, it's the buyer. Why? Because without their boss they don't have a job, but without their buyers, they don't have a career.

In practical sense, this means two things for the management of salespeople: First, they cannot be reliable communicators. If they have to deliver bad news to the buyer, they're likely to disassociate themselves from their own company. If they have to deliver news from the buyer to their own company, they'll make bad news sound worse and every opportunity sound better than it really is.

Second, they can't be negotiators because they won't take a strong position with buyers they don't want to make angry. Above all, they want the order and the commission.

If we recognize that salespeople won't negotiate and can't reliably communicate, where does that leave them in dealing with superpower retailers? To answer "packing it in" is tempting but counter-productive. Instead, we can start by accepting the fact that no one with the word "sales" in his or her title — not the salesperson, not the sales manager, possibly not even the vice president of sales — should be tasked with negotiating agreements with a superpower customer.

Every day, North America's senior managers send their best salespeople out to negotiate on their behalf. And every day, these same salespeople get their heads handed to them. If they score points with their buyers, they look weak to management. If they score points with management, they fall out of favor with buyers. Falling out of favor with management can mean losing a job; falling out of favor with the buyer can mean never getting another job. Listings are lost, promotions go to competitors. It's a tough situation.

Salespeople will never, however, admit to their own management that they're afraid to make the customer angry, because they know that if they do their career at that company is over. Instead, they go through the appearance of being bold when they're with their managers, but when they sit down with the buyer, they fold like lawn chairs.

And that's not all. Their counsel will tend to be a weak counsel. They inflate the customer's strength of position, the potential rewards and the dire results. This is true of company salespeople; and it's doubly or triply true of independent sales representatives.

They should be professionals:

• Whose rewards are based upon the company's overall financial health, not just sales figures
• Who are not in a position to damage their career by creating animosity within the buying community
• Whose toughness will mean a clear career boost and not a descent into sales purgatory
• Who can evaluate whether or not an order is good for the company or just the sales team

This person may be the president or a trusted lieutenant. If a company's fortunes depend on a few key accounts, then the president should be closely involved.

What then is the role of the salesperson? They can serve as mediator. A mediator is a third party who, while staying neutral, encourages two sides to come to an agreement that is mutually beneficial. It's the mediator's duty to facilitate communication, keep the parties focused and constantly assess positions.

In the role of the communicator, a mediator allows the two sides time to discuss their positions and responses in such a way that they don't alienate each other. The mediator massages communications to help keep everyone on good terms, and on target. What a great job for a salesperson! It is his or her nature to want to make everybody happy, so why not turn that into a strength?

Let's recognize that salespeople will seek to be friends with their customers whether we like it or not. Why not accept this, encourage it and take advantage of it? Let senior management take on the role of negotiator and allow salespeople to be heroes to both sides.

A confident and effective salesperson can add value to his or her company's key account relationship. There can be a clearer flow of vital data both ways that is not tainted by fear. A negotiating position that recognizes weaknesses and uses strengths can win favorable contracts and agreements. The company reaps the rewards by constantly improving customer partnerships, while at the same time protecting its own bottom line.