Negotiation Strategies April 15, 2013

How to Tackle a Firm Price Whether You Buy as a Consumer or Professional-Part Three

What follows are even more approaches that can win concessions in any negotiation involving a seller’s or merchant’s firm price continuing with the example of testing a department store price on a refrigerator. Have the courage to try these ideas. They will work for you because they are win-win ideas.

1. Billing Date. They arranged to be billed a few days later and thereby picked up a month’s free money on their charge account.
2. Seconds. They found a new refrigerator with a slight dent on the side.
3. Special Item. They bought a new refrigerator which had been used as a floor demonstrator.
4. Back Time. They bought the one that was on sale last week and paid last week’s price. All they had to do was ask when it was on sale.
5. Forward Time. They bought the one on sale next week. The salesperson told them about the forthcoming sale when they asked when it would go on sale.
6. Obsolete. They bought last year’s model.
7. Advanced. They bought next year’s model at today’s price.
8. Distribution. They bought the same refrigerator from the catalog, the wholesale department, the return outlet or from the other industrial catalog instead of the one in the store and received a lower price.
9. Commission. They convinced the salesperson to give up some of the commission on the sale.
10. Trade-In. They traded in their old model against a new one.
11. Free Labor or Transportation. They got the refrigerator delivered and connected in place. Also, the department store agreed to remove the old one and throw it into the city dump.
12. Delivery. They got a discount for picking it up themselves or got it delivered earlier or later to meet their own schedule.
13. Holding Option. They got the salesperson to hold the refrigerator until they had the money. This option can sometimes be arranged with a small deposit.
14. Nibbling. Extra ice cube trays and crispers were thrown in as well as the installation charges on the ice maker. They also got the salesperson to deliver forty miles at not extra charge.
15. Warranty. The warranty was extended to one year instead of 90 days at a nominal charge. A free damaged food insurance warranty was also included.

We will discuss more approaches to win concessions in our next post.