Salespeople can benefit from developing their skills in principled negotiation, new research from Wilson Learning Corp. shows. The report, titled “Enhancing Sales Performance Through Negotiation Skills,” also validated that success in development and behavior change is tied to a performance-improvement approach, versus training alone.
“Principled negotiation is a process that addresses both the issues and the relationships that exist in the context of a difficult negotiation,” said Dr. Michael Leimbach, vice president of research and design, Worldwide Solution Management, Wilson Learning. “Both sides work together to find a win-win solution that addresses all of the needs and interests, and builds a stronger bond between customer and salesperson.”
The report was based on a primary research study conducted with 120 salespeople from a large U.S. environmental services company. Through surveys and interviews, Wilson Learning researchers explored the impact on overall negotiation skills of the organization’s sales personnel, along with the impact on work performance and productivity and the financial impact to the organization.
“This study provides strong evidence that when salespeople learn the principled negotiation process, they are better equipped deal with a difficult message, like a pricing change, and end up with stronger relationships with customers,” Leimbach said. “Principle negotiation skills produced significant bottom-line results for this organization.”
The detailed report can be downloaded in its entirety at www.wilsonlearning.com through the Research link.
