What does commercial maturity look like?

Possibly the most memorable sales training I attended was a negotiation exercise called the Ruby Orange. I won’t spoil it for those who don’t know it yet but suffice it to say that I and my negotiating partner failed to come to an agreement, despite applying all of the techniques and tactics we had learned. After all we were there to negotiate, not capitulate. So why did we fail so miserably, especially when other groups succeeded.? Quite simply because we were in the process of learning a commercial ‘golden rule’…you have to give to get!

Most of us sell products or services that bring multiple benefits to our customers, sometimes these are obvious, other times less so.

Sales people are often trained to ask questions in order to unearth a customer’s underlying needs, but how often does a buyer try and understand his or her supplier’s needs?

Do we train a buyer to ask the right questions to identify additional and greater benefits that a supplier could deliver. Do we evaluate this knowledge as highly as the price?

In other words, do we hold an mature conversation about how to make a contract work well for both parties, or do we go into “battle” to win a superficial victory.

All of these questions are rhetorical as unfortunately dear reader, we both know the answers.

Those who were more commercially mature than my negotiating partner and I, asked the right questions that allowed them to unearth a mutually beneficial arrangement. Those of us who went into “battle”, came away empty handed.

Commercial maturity is about looking beyond price to what works best for both parties, and therefore can deliver a better outcome for you. If you could complete your tasks without help you would never have looked for a supplier, so whether you like it or not you rely on a or several suppliers to deliver your goals.. Why go to battle with them when you could get so much more from them?