I recently had a seller who refused the customer’s request to speak directly to customers before making an acquisition decision. My client didn’t want his clients to find out in regards to the acquisition until he was sure it could occur. As we listened fastidiously, it was clear that the customer did not have to approach customers like a possible buyer, they only needed to ensure that they were satisfied.
So as a substitute of calling customers as a possible buyer, the customer called them on behalf of my client’s company to get customer feedback. When we listened to him within the negotiations, we heard greater than what he demanded as a buyer, we heard what he really wanted.
Anticipate problems
Buying an organization involves a variety of risk, and when big money appears on the table, the interested party naturally becomes skeptical about various issues. Sometimes this leads to the event of an overactive imagination.
Therefore, it’s in your best interest to immediately discover any problems that will arise after which disarm the opposite party with honesty and sincerity. Are sales going through a difficult period? Then don’t brag about unfinished explanations. Just admit it and explain why you think it’s happening, after which explain what you think will fix it. Will the vendor act like a spoiler and begin changing the terms of the contract as soon as the corporate changes ownership? Then raise the problem before the potential buyer does so you can develop a technique.
We recently had a client who didn’t follow this rule and it cost him a sale. We were already within the technique of finalizing the acquisition when the customer learned of a lawsuit that had taken place several years earlier. Our client didn’t consider this vital since the lawsuit was frivolous. Our buyer disagreed: though the lawsuit was not a threat, the dearth of disclosure was enough to upset the customer. Ultimately, the deal fell apart.
People can take care of bad news, but they hate surprises. Get your skeletons out of the closet early and show them that they should not as scary as the customer might think.
Always have a backup plan
The best leverage you have on the negotiating table is your ability to walk away. However, it will weaken your position if you determine to come back. If you come back, you’ll send a message: “I want to close this deal one way or the other. So I even have no selection but to proceed talking to you. You will immediately lose your advantage.
So before negotiations begin, have a plan B. It would not be a foul idea to have a plan C. Are there other buyers or can you keep the corporate going longer? Have a backup plan; otherwise you could also be left empty-handed and feeling silly.
One of the primary deals I made as an advisor required moving to a backup plan. The buyer I discovered for my client’s company was great, but his lawyer was terrible and overly aggressive. Fortunately, we had many buyers involved in this business. We explained to the customer that his attorney had been unreasonable and left. We never closed the door with our buyer and he actually got here back to us with a special, more reasonable attorney.
The first step to using leverage in negotiations is knowing when you have it and when you don’t.
Being a talented negotiator requires being a nice and approachable person. Don’t storm in and shout conditions. This takes practice and experience, however the simplest way to learn is to take into consideration how you would really like to be treated in reverse roles. When you do that, you can have a very good foundation for lasting, productive and profitable discussion.