INKED

12Power Position

Power is derived from having alternatives. At the sales negotiation table, the more alternatives a party has, the stronger its power position. The more power a party has, the more concessions it can demand.

Buyers are almost always in a stronger power position than sellers.

• Buyers usually have the option of doing nothing—making no decision.
• There is almost always a competitor waiting in line to sell them a similar product or service.
• There may even be the option of taking it in-house and doing it themselves.

Salespeople are typically in a weaker power position because they have fewer alternatives.

• They are working from thin to nonexistent pipelines because they fail to prospect consistently.
• They find themselves backed into the corner by leaders who demand that they make monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts.
• They are on performance plans and must get deals done to remain employed.
• The competition in their market or industry is fierce.
• There are many similar offerings in the market that buyers perceive to be the same.
• Even though they almost always have another prospect to sell to, it rarely feels this way to salespeople.

Therefore, buyers naturally start off in a stronger power position, making it easy for them to persuade desperate salespeople in a weaker position to give away their leverage for free.

One part of the buyers’ strength is the natural order of things. For example, if the buyer is a large multinational company with a premier brand name, ...