Making Deals: Sell Your Ideas and Land Business

by Suzanne Bates

During negotiations and transactions, the risks are tremendous. When there’s money and stakeholders at the table, it’s no surprise that many deals never close. Deals don’t fail because of price, timing, complications, or even egos. They fail because communication breaks down and the parties are not persuaded to come to agreement.

It’s the same for brokers, bankers, lawyers, developers, contractors, buyers and sellers.
A professional engaged in a negotiation, at any level, can either engage in the blame game like everyone else or own it. Taking ownership is not just flawlessly executing a technical role. That’s expected. It is mastering the art and science of persuasion and bringing that to the deal.

Secrets of Great Deal Makers

Top deal makers see conflict as an opportunity. If people are passionately engaged in the process, there is a good chance of reaching agreement. In order to do so, a deal maker must learn as much as they can, to appeal to the other party’s self interest.

Deal makers are better than anyone at seeing others’ point of view and communicating with all parties to clear away the obstacles. It isn’t about how a case is presented; it’s about how intelligence is gathered, and then about a dialogue that leads everyone to a logical and comfortable business conclusion.

Yes, there are tales of industry titans going head to head, getting the deal done two minutes to midnight. It’s a nice bedtime story, but power brokers don’t wing it. They gather intelligence, assess the needs and desires of each of the stakeholders, and then articulate the benefits to each. They have so much intelligence they can handle objections and keep the conversation on course.

Why People Buy

Before it’s understood why people buy, it’s important to know why they don’t buy. Regardless of whether “buy” means actually signing a contract or just buying into ideas, people don’t “buy” when the seller or negotiator talks about their own problems, issues, needs or concerns.

There is one word, above all words that professionals must have top of mind, in order to
persuade others. It’s the most important word in persuasion. The word is WHY. Until the
question “Why would YOU want to do this?” is answered, there is no sale – no sale of an idea, property or service.

Five Steps to Gathering Intelligence to Make a Deal

Finding out “why” – the true concerns, questions, needs, and plans of a potential buyer or decision maker can be broken down into five steps.

• Asking great questions

• Going to a deep level

• Being genuinely curious

• Listening between the lines

• Analyzing logic and emotion

Asking Great Questions

One of the most valuable tools in persuasion is a good question. As Jeffrey Gitomer puts it in The Little Red Book of Selling, “Good questions get to the heart of the problem, need, or situation very quickly, without the buyer feeling like he or she is being pushed.”

Great beginning questions are open ended – they don’t give the other party a chance to say yes or no. Great questions should elicit information that is top of mind.

Effective deal makers aren’t afraid to ask what may seem like a difficult or probing question. Rather than avoiding them, they ask them as soon as they can. If the other party doesn’t want to answer – they’ll say so.

Serious business people – especially decision makers – appreciate an honest, productive
discussion. They want to get down to brass tacks.

Great types of questions are what some refer to as situational. They might start with…

• Tell me about...

• Could you help me understand …?

• Would you show me..?

• What is the biggest, greatest, toughest…?

• How would you describe your most…?

• What should I know about…?

Going To a Deep Level

Good questions take the conversation where they should go – a deeper level. This takes the discussion beyond jargon and discussion of facts.

Great deal makers follow the above situational questions by asking the other party to explain why the situation exists or what caused it to develop.

Next, they follow with questions about impact, such as “What is the result of this situation?” or “How has it affected you, this deal or your decision?”

Finally, they ask about desired outcomes. What would be ideal for the other party?
In the process of asking these questions, great business people build trust. People appreciate being asked, and being heard. Trust is essential currency in any transaction.

Being Genuinely Curious

Without curiosity, questions can sound “canned” – a big turnoff. Questions must show
intellectual vigor, genuine interest and deep understanding.

When someone is genuinely curious, people know it. Curiosity stems from asking the above questions and getting into the details. Deep conversations should trigger some passion for knowing and understanding. This passion comes through in great deal makers. It is difficult to fake curiosity because people know it when they see it.

Listening Between the Lines

Paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal responses to any question is absolutely essential. Great communicators listen to tone, pitch, pauses and inflection to read emotion. They watch body language, facial expression, and other indicators. These are far more reliable than what people say.

Every smart professional knows that it’s important to listen carefully. But what some people miss the mark on is not only to listen to what the other person is saying, but to what he or she is not saying – what that person appears to be questioning, thinking or feeling.

Elements of good listening:

• Concentrating and focusing intensely on the other person.

• Not interrupting – a rule well understood, but constantly broken.

• Suspending judgment until the other party is finished speaking.

• Repeating key words and phrases to acknowledge listening.

Analyzing Logic and Emotion

Some people respond more to cold hard facts, others go on their gut, and respond more to emotion. It’s important to appeal to both logic and emotion in a conversation or presentation; most people operate in the two worlds simultaneously; they want hard evidence, and then want to check their gut.

Some sample logic words are: research, study, investigate or investigation, inquiry, quantify, measure, verify. Sample emotion words are: feeling, gut, hunch, inkling, instinct, thought, reaction, sense.

Next Steps

Of course there is more than the discovery phase to doing a deal, but without discovery, none of the rest of it matters. A broker, banker, lawyer, developer, contractor, buyer or seller can prepare an outstanding presentation on a project and deliver it with fanfare, but if they haven’t done this work, it won’t matter.

The art and science of persuasion really begins with questions and a curious mind. By gathering intelligence and building relationships of trust, the pieces begin to fall together.

Mastering these communication skills sets the stage for highly productive conversations that lead to very profitable business.