My 10 Sales Agreements

"Your body language shapes who you are"

Hey everyone,

as I told you in one of my self-evaluations, I learnt that my body language is very important for the whole atmosphere in a negotiation. Moreover, I have the feeling, that my body language transfers to my whole attitude forward the negotiation. Therefrom, I want to work on a positive body language.

I think this video is very interesting for you if you have the same objectives:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Two interviews and the self-evaluation

1)

Skype:

Barbara Sitz: 38 years old, mother (2 children (4,2))

Me: Hey Barbara,

How are you?

…

Me: How is everything working with the kids?

Barbara: Lars was ill the last day and you know, it is very hard. You can´t go to work but I have to do many things at the moment... Than the relocation..

Me: I understand that! But what are you doing to catch new energy?

Barbara: Haha the kids consume my energy but they also give it back to me.

Me: Tell me about the last time you did sports for yourself.

Barbara: For myself? Swimming with the children does not count?

Me: No, haha :D

Barbara: I think volleyball. I stopped it during the pregnancy.

Me: I know. Do you miss it?

Barbara: Yes sometimes. But i don´t have the time for it any more.

Me: It would be funny to know how much energy the kids consume.

Barbara: Haha yes :D It is more exhausting than a marathon.

Me: If there would be a product with which counts how much fett you burn, would you be interested in it?

Barbara: I don´t know... I don´t like these kind of products. Yes, it is interesting but i think we should live our life. Yes, i want to loose some weight but no, i don´t want to be dependent on this idea. I don´t want to think about fett, calories and the other things the whole time. And if i would have such a product, i would be faced with it the whole time.

Summary:

PAIN: does not have enough time to do sports

MOTIVATION: willing to get her ancient figure back

NEEDS: a group to do sports together → team sports (Volleyball) 

self evaluation, self-reflection and self-assessment:

I think this interview was successful; although this customer is not interested in Fabulyzer. I learned something about the customers´ needs without talking too much. I listened carefully and in an active way and because of that I figured some needs out without asking this question in a direct way. It was a pleasant atmosphere. I prepared my objectives before the interview but I wanted to react spontaneous. Therefrom, I did not prepare a question sheet. I had questions in my mind but I wanted to concentrate on the active listening.

2)

Telephone:

Michael: 28 years old, studied law and started to work in a lawyer office some months ago

Me: Hey Michael, how are you?

…

Me: How do you like your job?

Michael: I am really happy. I studied so long and it feels so good to have responsibility now. And you get money for it.

Me: Haha yes, that´s cool! Do you already have much responsibility?

Michael: Yes, I already have my own cases.

Me: Oh that´s cool. But do you have enough free time?

Michael: Oh, I really enjoy working at the moment and therefrom it is no problem for me.

Me: But you do not have time to do sports, do you?

Michael: Oh, it´s okay. I go jogging before work .. twice a week. And I can do sports at the weekend. But I am not so interested in it any more. I just want to keep my figure. Yeah, I could also work on it. But it is not so important for me at the moment.

Me: So you feel comfortable at the moment?

Michael: Yeah, I am happy with my job and that´s the most important thing for me.

Me: I am so happy to hear that! What are you doing right now? It is very loud.

Michael: I am on my way home from work and just went into a supermarket to buy some food.

Me: Haha always the same... Let me guess: Your fridge is empty like every time.

Michael: Haha since I am working so much, it is worser than you can imagine. I do not have so much time and I am too lazy to cook something when I get home.

Me: But you should eat healthy.

Michael: Yes, I know.. I have to change that. Especially, because often I do not eat anything in my break or only fast food.

Me: You are right. You should change something.

Michael: Yes, I know. I will work on it. Julia, can I call you at the end of the week again? It is too loud here.

Me: Yes of course. Have a nice week.

Summary:

PAIN: to lose his current figure

MOTIVATION: wants to keep and work on his figure

NEEDS: professional food diary

self-evaluation, self-reflection and self-assessment:

In this interview it was more difficult for me because the other person was busy. Moreover he was not focussing on the conversation and I did not find a good way to let him talk about his needs and pains. I think it is easier if the interviewee is only focussed on the conversation and is not doing two things at the same time. I was not able to get his whole concentration and therefrom I am not satisfied with my performance. 

Some of us had Media Manipulation in elective class. I think we can connect some topic we have seen in both classes such as how to convince a person or how to make an efficient approach.

That why I would like to share with you a video about: how to manipulate and approach people/customers.

The interviews

12 Interviews

Click here to have a look at the online survey

Questions to answer in terms of performing effective negotiations

• What did you do?
• I listened to the potential buyers more than I talked.  I just asked a few questions to know who they were, what were their main hobbies, where they liked to hang out, if they were interested in any sports etc.  I tried to avoid to talk about Fabulyzer at first.  Around the middle/end of the conversation I introduced Fabulyzer, after knowing the potential customer's pain (if possible/applicable).
• What did you not do?
• I did not start talking about Fabulyzer at first, because they would take me for a sales person and they would go away.  If a ''potential buyer'' would refuse me to talk to him about Fabulyzer, I wouldn't push and push and try to convince him to buy the device.
• What did you want to do in the exercise but failed?
• I really wanted to get to the point where I could talk about Fabulyzer and try to get some signatures, but for some of the people that I interviewed, it would just be impossible because they were not interested in this product.
• What did you most enjoy? Why?
• I enjoyed the interview part, because it was a big challenge for me and for most of the students to go outside their comfort zone, and talk to strangers, with the goal of obtaining intents to buy.
• What will you do/not do next time?
• Next time, I'll ask very simple questions just to know a bit more the customer, I'll let him talk and in my head, I'll take notes about what he says, what he needs, his pain etc.  I won't push too much to avoid putting pressure on the customer.
• What does any of the above tell you about your negotiating style?
• I am a very patient man.  I know how to listen to the customers, and to understand what they need.  I already worked as a sales person for different companies, and in the most cases when people buy, it is because they feel a connection between the sales person and them.  Talking about their lives, making them laugh and having patience are the key to success.
• How has your team performed? How as your team hundred or helped you?
• My team performed pretty well as well.  Everyone did their part.  It was not easy sometimes to approach the potential buyers, but at the end we had good results.  We all helped each other by giving feedback to our pairs, about both the negative and the positive aspects of the work.
• How have the resources you have brought to the blog been valuable in terms of learning to become a better negotiator?
• I can see my strengths and my weaknesses, and also the feedback of my pairs will help me become a better negotiator.  The fact that my classmates can see what I post and can comment on it and give me some FEEDBACK, will help me through it.
• How has the feedback from your peers and team members improved your performance and preparation for negotiation?
• As I said previously, their feedback helped me to correct my main weaknesses, so for the next negotiation, I would know what to do and what to not do.  It was a very constructive way to improve myself for sales negotiation.

Reflexion about Yvette's interview

For the last potential customer interview, I was the one who was in charge to film Yvette while she was interviewing the potential customer.  It's crazy to see that Yvette, the very quiet student, could do such a nice job!  Because of her, we obtained 2 signatures : the interviewed girl and her friend.

We first got out of the school without really knowing where we were going with this interview.  We had the idea to stay in the school area, because there are a lot of students in this neighbourhood and we did not have that much time.  We started walking, walking walking, for at least 15-20 minutes.  We had no idea what to do because the first few people we approached didn't really want to talk to us.  Then we saw that mexican girl, and started talking to her.  All the nervousness went away.  We had a very good interview, with nice results.

I think Yvette did a very nice job with this interview.  However, there are some points to improve for the next interview, if ever there is one.  I think at first she was a bit shy, either because of the fact that I had to film her, or because she was shy to talk to a stranger.  After a few minutes of recording, everything was alright.  I also think that next time, she should make the interview shorter, because not everyone has a lot free time and can answer during 10 minutes to an interview.  They got off topic at a few moments, which is great because we had the chance to learn even more about the potential customer.

On the other hand, I think that the fact that the potential customer was a spanish speaker, Yvette felt more confident and relaxed.  They spoke about a lot of things before talking about the main topic which was the intent to buy the Fabulyzer device.  We learned a lot about the girl's habits, about what she thinks about sports, about her free time etc.  It was a very nice experience for both of us, because even if I didn't have the chance to conduct an interview at this moment, I at least could film the scene and tell myself : OK, she's doing this and that wrong etc, and then, for my next interview, I will know what to do and what to avoid.