Flinching

Do You Succumb To Flinching

There is an age old tactic that experienced buyers and negotiators use with salespeople. It's called Flinching. Flinching means visibly reacting (either through an unhappy face expression or verbally) whenever the salesperson mentions price. Something like "XXX$you got to be kidding me." or "Wow! You are twice the price of your competition." or "WHAT?"

People do it on purpose. Never be fooled in to think that that expression is real. Its designed to test the salesperson's confidence of his price. It is a simple and straight forward negotiation tactic. Nothing more. Sometimes people will overstate the price difference. I remember a time last year, we had presented our services to a large company, with a very structured training department. We usually make our presentations directly to MD's or HR heads. However in this particular case we had to take it step by step. Post the presentation we told them the investment they would need to make for the programs. Then came the instant flinch response - "Oh! you are at least 50% higher than any trainer we have ever engaged."

Standard responses that cause you to fail the flinch test in a situation like this is:

Denial: "That's not true. We are very competitively priced." Big Mistake - You have basically opened yourself up. If the buyer proves that the competition is 50% cheaper - you will now be compelled to match.

What price were you looking for? Again a BIG Mistake - Because once they buyer says his price - you will, till the end of this sale, be negotiating from 'his price' upwards and not from 'your price' downwards.

I'll ask my manager if we can do better: This is better than the previous two but not right. You have not given a concession but promised one indirectly. The buyer knows he can get something (more) out of you.

How about if I take 10% off? If your buyer is a negotiator - which we should always assume that he or she is - then he or she will most definitely flinch again - "10% what are you saying. I don't think you want our business."

The reason these are failed responses is that they create trust issues with the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented? One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there? Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. Yes, they were and always will and why shouldn't they; it is a terrible negotiation strategy to even hint that you may be willing to drop the price the moment someone is displeased. That approach will only give the impression that you don't have integrity. I am quite certain that if this is the way a negotiation goes- then you will either end up with 'no sale' or 'a sale but no profits.'

The key to passing the flinch test is to respond with confidence in your price. Be proud of your price, be proud of the value you provide and believe that with respect to the value - you are the fairest deal in the market. My response to the flinch situation that I just narrated was "Wow, finally the market has realized our value and giving us our due, even though only 50%, wouldn't you like to work with the best Ms. Prospect?" There was another flinch after this but we walked out with the order with no discount. The only concession we made is not charge them for workbooks.

The point is this. If you don't believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, the question is why are you presenting it anyways?

Most negotiations can easily end at the middle ground. They wanted 5; you wanted 10 and settled at 7.5. That seems logical. But it doesn't even require brains. Moreover, if you lower your price early, the middle ground is lower. The key to price negotiations is always reverse the flinch and get other people to negotiate from your price downwards rather than their price upwards. In the example that I have been mentioning - the moment I told them that 50% higher is our value and even that seems lower to me and asked them that if they would like to work with the best - the response I got was - "Look, even the international trainers who we hire are at times cheaper than this - you have got to do something." - Now, they are talking 'my price' downwards and its fine for me to begin negotiations, but not in the earlier scenario.

Successful salespeople have a planned response for the flinch test. No one can expect a prospect to respond with excitement about a price. I am sure you have never had someone say "I love your price. Can't wait to do business with you!" Anticipate the flinch shock (its planned by the buyer) and have a planned process to handle it.

Here are some tips..

1. Set expectations upfront. Early in the buying process, you can let them know that you are not the low price provider. "To be clear, our company is rarely the low bid, does that mean that we won't be working together on this project?" If they say no, you are set for the later phases of the process. If they say yes, at least you haven't invested a ton of time in an account that you won't win. If you are going to lose, lose early.

2. Don't Succumb to flinch! "I'm not surprised by your reaction. I get that a lot. As I mentioned at the outset, we are rarely the low bidder." or "at the price that we have quoted to you, thousands of clients have chosen us and continue to chose us over and above the cheaper options. Would you like to know why?"

3. Seek to understand. "When you say that you are shocked by the price, which part is surprising?"

4. Rinforce your position. "When you say that we are 50% higher, do you think that their is a reason that for XYZ number of years, we have managed to partner with 100 clients who have all decided to to pay a little more to do business with us?"

To understand the flinch test completely, try it the next time you buy. It could be anything. Whenever the price is presented - Simply Flinch and remain silent. You will be amazed how quickly sales people will drop their price. It's no wonder that professional buyers use this. I often wonder how many commission dollars were lost just because they 'simply' flinched.

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