Negotiation strategies that make money

A couple of months ago I wanted to buy a loft bed for my daughter. The one where you sleep on the top and have space to play underneath. I promised that I would get her one for her birthday. I went to a few shops and found the one I wanted in a store that was re-decorating their floor stock and changing the layout of the shop. The loft bed that I wanted was surrounded by sofas and coffee tables; it looked a bit out of place where it was. The loft bed was reduced, indicating that they wanted to get rid of it. I went to a staff member and said that I would like to buy the bed but for half of the advertised price. He said that he couldn’t go that low, which indicated that he was willing to negotiate. I said to the person that I will go and do some shopping in the centre and that I will be back in an hour. I left it at that. I went back an hour later and asked him what he thought of my offer. He said that if I take the bed by tomorrow, I can have it for 50% less. I said that tha

Selling and negotiating are two very different skills that require a different skill sets and need to be applied at different stages throughout the negotiation process. People often confuse selling with negotiating.  The fundamental difference is that when you sell you create demand and when you negotiate you make money! Selling is all about convincing the customer that they need the product or service by talking about the features and benefits of the product or service.    Selling is about convincing, persuading, justifying and explaining why the product or service is the one the customer needs. Negotiation on the other hand is about agreeing to the terms of the deal. Once the need has been established and the sale has been concluded the negotiation can begin. A skilled negotiator asks effective questions to gain valuable information and listens carefully to what the other party has to say as the insights can then be used in the negotiation. If you fall back into se