I had a conversation with a client last week about negotiation and how to do it properly. I said to her that as salespeople we need to truly understand the “art of negotiation”. She told me that she was a Development Officer and not a salesperson. She was responsible for selling corporate sponsorships for their events. But she definitely was not a “salesperson” she said.

I had to disagree. Furthermore, I had a ton of content as to ‘why she was a salesperson’ whether she liked it or not. I had just finished putting the final touches on the session I developed to deliver this Thursday for an afternoon workshop with AFP Edmonton and Area members on successful negotiation.

We are all sales people. Every day we are selling and we are buying. Every day we are negotiating. From the time we are babies to the time when we pass, we are selling and closing. As young children we knew that crying or pouting quite often worked when we wanted something such as milk or food. For others we knew if we said nice things to the grandparents we would get a gift or perhaps a two dollar bill (guess I aged myself). As we grew older, we had to sell that boy or girl into going to the prom with us or even on a date. And for those that are married… don’t think for a moment that it was a closed deal when you first met! You had selling and negotiating to do up to the day… and still do.

In our daily lives we negotiate with our children and parents. When we buy the car, the house or when you want to go to Mexico and the rest of the family wants to go to Iceland. It takes some salesmanship to accomplish that but a good negotiator will get what they set out to achieve.

For us in the sponsorship world, win-win negotiations are essential. If not, you never really won the negotiation. But truly, each and every day in our personal and professional lives, we need to be good negotiators and constantly selling. From negotiations for a salary increase or to get your colleagues to agree with your take on how to pitch to a prospect, having the skills to negotiate well is critical. Then, when you are trying to “close the deal” with the prospect, understanding negotiation and sales (from gestures to who makes the first ask) is critical.

So from one salesperson to all of you sales people; have a great day – negotiate for Win-Win!  If you would like to review the presentation I am delivering on successful negotiation visit our whitepapers section on the web site.