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latest news from think!, inc.
SalesXPress names Think! as third in its top 7 in 2007!
Marie Dudek - January 23rd, 2008
It never hurts to review what you’ve already learned, which is why SalesForceXPress brings you the seven most popular articles from last year’s e-newsletters as determined by click-throughs from readers.
#3 - Simplify Your Sales Negotiations
Negotiating a sale has been made more complex than it needs to be. That’s far worse than confusing, it’s disempowering. When it comes right down to it, says Brian Dietmeyer, President of Chicago-based consultant Think! Inc., every sales negotiation ultimately hinges on only two elements…
Manage Smarter Article - The Bottom Line: Redefining Negotiation
Marie Dudek - November 27th, 2007
Keep your sales team from getting eaten alive
By Dave Stein, Founder, Chairman & CEO, ES Research Group
- as published in Manage Smarter, the online home of Sales and Marketing Management Magazine
Any sales manager will tell you that negotiation is one of the required skills for success in sales. Yet few salespeople are equipped to go one-on-one with the increasingly experienced and tough corporate buyers and purchasing officers with whom they must negotiate in order to make a sale.
Even some companies that provide guidance for pursuing the most complex sales opportunities not only leave money on the table, but allow the perceived value of their brand to be whittled away during negotiations.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
HBS Article: Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator
Marie Dudek - October 3rd, 2007
- as published in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge for Business Leaders
According to Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman, chances are the main hurdle to smooth negotiation is behind one of three questions. When you label someone “irrational,” you limit your own options, as they write in Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. The following except describes strategies and tactics to overcome another party’s counterproductive behavior and keep the deal on track.
These are ideas that anyone can put to use in multiple settings of business. As Malhotra and Bazerman observe, negotiation geniuses are made, not born.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
ITSMA’s article: Combating Commoditization and Upholding Value: Marketing’s Role in Shaping Negotiation Strategy
Marie Dudek - July 10th, 2007
ITSMA (IT Services Marketing Association) cites Negotiation for Sales Effectiveness research study results in their July 2007 e-zine.
According to a new research study by the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) and Think! Inc., a vast majority (80%) of the 361 study respondents said that “they see mounting irrational competitive behavior, such as competitors drastically lowering prices or giving away services.” This type of behavior, added Barrett Moore, a negotiation consultant at Think! Inc., is a problem because “giving away value tarnishes brand perception and signals competitors to do the same, lowering margins for everyone.”
To read the rest of this article, click here.
CPSA article, “How to Time Negotiation to Win the Deal”
Marie Dudek - April 19th, 2007
The Canadian Professional Sales Association’s e-newsletter, Sales Exchange, publishes article written by Brian Dietmeyer.
Timing is everything in negotiation - to get the upper hand you have to know when to start. We suggest you begin negotiation at precisely the same time that Livingston International, Canada’s leading custom broker and trade services company, does.
“We constantly get inquiries for our services; but we always ask ourselves, ‘Why are they interested in us?’” explains Tod Walton, Livingston’s Director of Business Development. “Unless we are certain that we can help the prospect do business better, we’re not going to pursue the opportunity.”
To read the rest of this article, click here.
Selling Power’s Gerhard Gschwandtner interviews Think! Inc.’s Brian Dietmeyer
Marie Dudek - April 18th, 2007
Selling Power, the most trusted site for professional selling skills, motivation and sales management know-how in the business-to-business environment, showcases interviews with Brian Dietmeyer, Think! Inc. President and CEO, on the Selling Power Daily Report website. To view videos, click on the appropriate link below.
Tom Martin Named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Think! Inc.
Marie Dudek - March 2nd, 2007
Chicago, Ill. – Think! Inc., a global negotiation consultancy, has named Tom Martin Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Martin will focus on creating the infrastructure that will take the organization through its next phase of growth.
Martin has more than 15 years of top-level management experience with the nation’s leading business consulting organizations. Most recently, he was Managing Partner/Senior Director with OnTarget, Inc., a division of Siebel Systems. During his five-year tenure, his responsibilities included sales forecasting, pipeline management, competitive intelligence, process improvement, and technology-driven business analytics. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Miller Heiman, where he rose through the ranks to become President for North America. His background also includes several years with Price Waterhouse where he developed and implemented sales process automation.
“Mr. Martin is a results-focused leader and innovator. He is expert at driving success through process, which is the foundation of our approach to negotiation,” says Brian Dietmeyer, President and CEO of Think! “His broad knowledge of the marketplace – from sales to training to consulting to information systems – is unparalleled. We are very pleased for both ourselves and our clients that Mr. Martin is now a part of Think!”
“Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with sales training companies that were redefining their industry – Miller Heiman in the early ‘90s and OnTarget at the turn of the millennium. I’m excited to be working with Think!, today’s thought leader that is redefining the negotiation world.”
In addition to his work at Think! Martin also operates his own management consulting business, Strategy 2 Revenue, Inc. He is a University of Florida honors graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Advertising.
Ask the Expert Recording
Brian Dietmeyer - October 5th, 2006
In the Ask the Expert series, IACCM* take real questions from real people in real situations, and get an expert to answer them. This call is the first of two calls with Brian Dietmeyer and David Lynn related to the topic of redefining negotiation.
Redefining Negotiation: Skills for the individual negotiator:
Negotiation has long been seen as a very personal skill, negotiators are born, not made. Subsequently skills training has focused on long lists of tactics, countermeasures, personality profiles and the like. Based on our global benchmarking of negotiation best practice, any negotiator need know only three items in order to be a world class negotiator. These three analytical skills can be learned, even by those who claim to not be born great negotiators. For those who are very experienced negotiators, these three skills will take your negotiation analytics to a whole new level.
* IACCM - International Association for Contract and Commercial Management
Stop Giving Away Your Value
Brian Dietmeyer - June 14th, 2006
Corporations Fall Prey to Pricing Games Too Often, Says Think!
CHICAGO – Despite the complex sales processes used by Fortune 500 companies, many sales teams fall prey to the last-hour pricing games during deal negotiations. However, sales teams often set themselves up for this downfall by commoditizing their own services during the sales process, according to Tim Caito, Partner and Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Think! Inc., a progressive business negotiation firm.
“During my consulting, time and time again, I hear how customers agree that a product is clearly superior but that the price is 20 percent too high. Rationally, it’s impossible to say a product that produces significantly better results should cost as much as one that doesn’t always work, and yet that’s what we often hear from customers,” said Caito. “Somewhere along the negotiation process, there’s a significant disconnect between the actual value of the product and the cost.”
In order to avoid the pricing game, sales teams need to showcase their value right at the beginning. Often, sales teams do not bring up their product’s unique qualities early enough in the process. Instead, they often present those differences at the end of the sales process to show why the customer should pay more. According to Caito, three major changes in the marketplace has made the value-sell more difficult.
First, the buying process has become more formalized and structured. Professional purchasing people are purposely brought into the process at the end because they focus on the economics of the purchase, not necessarily the quality of the product. By infusing the value of the product with those who recommend you to the professional purchasers, that value is often brought to the table by the corporation’s own internal staff, making the value proposition sell that much easier.
Second, deals are becoming increasingly complex. One of the most common comments Caito hears during negotiations is the deal has come full circle from where they started a year ago. Because deals have become so multifaceted, price quickly becomes one of the first and easiest common denominators among competitors.
And third, many sales teams believe the buyers are the one with the power in the negotiation. However, this is not always true. Approximately 50 percent of the time, according to Caito, the seller has the power in the negotiation because they are offering a product or service that cannot be fully offered by any other competitor, leaving the buyer without a viable alternative.
“By waiting until the end of the deal process, many sales professionals become tactical and reactionary and fall prey to the pricing game. Negotiation needs to be a parallel process of the sales cycle rather than just a step, ensuring customers are willing to pay for the value you can bring them,” said Caito.
About Think!
Think! Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Ill., delivers high-performance negotiation systems to optimize the sophisticated sales processes of Fortune 1000 companies. Through strategic negotiation, Think! helps companies align their deal-making initiatives with their corporate goals. In addition, the process of strategic negotiation helps businesses understand negotiation from both the buyer and seller’s perspective, as well as act on that understanding to integrate negotiation more fully into the sales process, helping all sides achieve a much more desirable outcome. Think!’s clients include Federal Express, Monster.com, Ryder, Honeywell, Coke, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Symantec and Lucent Technologies. For more information, visit www.e-thinkinc.com.
Most Corporations Would Not Know a Good Sales Deal… Even If It Hit Them On the Head
Brian Dietmeyer - June 14th, 2006
Corporations Unknowingly Give Away Millions Each Year Due to Bad Sales Deals
CHICAGO – Imagine you’re a Fortune 500 sales executive working on a critical $100 million deal. Would you know a great business deal if it was presented to you? Even though it seems such a simple and obvious question, the majority of corporate executives cannot answer this question, leading to serious revenue loss and missed opportunities, according to Steve Thompson, Partner and Vice President of customer solutions for Think! Inc., a progressive business negotiation firm.
“In my meetings with executives, this is the one question I always ask, and virtually no one can answer me. The scary issue with not knowing what you want from a deal is that you’re often ready to accept just about anything and even give away the farm just to get a deal signed,” stated Thompson. “Now imagine a sales force of more than 3,000 people and the potential value they are giving away each and every day. Without an understanding of what a company needs and expects from a deal, corporations may be losing millions in net revenue.”
While many corporations have invested significant time, effort and money in sales skills training and sales processes, the sales teams are still not creating better deals for their companies. According to Thompson, although these companies have taught their employees to sell more proficiently, they haven’t painted the target of what they want them to sell to. Without a clear understanding of a great deal for the corporation, sales executives and sales teams do not know what they are aiming for and will often miss the mark of bringing in true value to a deal.
Two of the most common mistakes sales professionals make during negotiations are offering deep discounts and giving away ancillary products or services. Sales teams often discount products and services much more often than they need to and offer deeper discounts than necessary. By offering such discounts, they willingly hand over their margins and any chance to make a significant profit on the deal.
In addition, ancillary products or services have an innate value that can be added to a deal. By casually giving these items away, sales teams unknowingly devalue what they’ve provided to the customer. So not only have they missed an opportunity to add value to the negotiation for the customer, they have also reduced the company’s short- and long-term profit on the deal.
To establish this target for sales professionals, Thompson recommends companies create a negotiation strategy, mapping out the guidelines of what a great deal is, including a prioritized list of desired items in the deal as well as the acceptable pricing levels for its products or services. This will allow sales teams to focus on critical issues as well as those line items that create additional value in the deal, such as longer-term contracts or hard-to-secure quarterly meetings with executives to learn of any potential business opportunities down the line.
“At the end of the day, understanding what a great deal looks like ensures the things that create value for a company are considered equally with the things that create value for a customer, resulting in more consistent and valuable deals across a sales organization,” commented Thompson.
About Think!
Think! Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Ill., delivers high-performance negotiation systems to optimize the sophisticated sales processes of Fortune 1000 companies. Through strategic negotiation, Think! helps companies align their deal-making initiatives with their corporate goals. In addition, the process of strategic negotiation helps businesses understand negotiation from both the buyer and seller’s perspective, as well as act on that understanding to integrate negotiation more fully into the sales process, helping all sides achieve a much more desirable outcome. Think!’s clients include Federal Express, Monster.com, Ryder, Honeywell, Coke, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Symantec and Lucent Technologies. For more information, visit www.ethinkinc.com.
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