Negotiation begins with the ability to see solutions for the people across the table. Whether you are offering a service or a product, your success will depend on solving problems.

The purpose of a negotiation is to reach an agreement that benefits both sides. How do successful companies see, create, present, and deliver solutions?
~ www.jaywren.com

Step 1. Products and Services

When I worked at Polaroid, my orientation included a history of the company.  Edwin Land (Dr. Land) got the idea for the instant camera from his daughter.

While on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dr. Land’s 3-year-old daughter asked why she could not see the pictures as he took them.

The idea led to Dr. Land envisioning a camera that contained a photo finishing system.

The camera satisfied the needs, wants, and fancies for consumers, law enforcement, military, businesses, and perhaps others who wanted to record visual record of the things they saw.

The success sale for these cameras was to negotiate with resellers who had to take the risks of buying camera in hopes that they would resell the camera to their customers.  The negotiation began with a presentation that in some show the buyers how the camera fit the needs of their consumers.

Step 2. Awareness and Demand

Negotiation needs awareness and demand. For manufacturers of consumer products, the persuasion happens at two levels.

Here’s how it works.

The Push. Edwin Land hired a sales team to sell the cameras into retail stores.  He sent product demonstrators into the stores to train clerks and consumers on how the camera worked and how it solved problems for them.

At this level, the manufacturer sells or “pushes” the product into the stores and onto the retailers’ shelves.

The Pull.  Next, Dr. Land hired marketers.  With print and television advertising, the Polaroid marketing teams created consumer awareness and consumer demand.  From what consumers saw in the media, they wanted Polaroid cameras before they went to a store.

The marketing-driven consumer demand pulled the products through the retailers and into the hands of the consumer.

Negotiation

In closing, most people have a sense of what they want.  If they are sales people, they want to sell their product.  If they are resellers, they want to sell their products to the end users.  The negotiation process must show how all these steps will work.