Thread by @NotechAna

When I was 27 years old I closed €6M deal with Cyprus government. I had no negotiating experience prior to it (aside from 8 years in India where you have to fight for a better deal at every street market😅)

That's what helped me and might help you as well with smaller deals👇

1. Record every meeting to listen to it again
We operated in a small team. I was in charge of making visuals, presenting them, plus helped with the translations.

During the meeting I was constantly focused on what I was supposed to say next.

I did not have time to LISTEN properly to what the buying part was saying.

But I made recordings and analysed every single word afterwards.

2. Find out what REALLY stops them
When I arrived I received intel I used to build my presentations upon.

As we were negotiating with Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) we presumed that the major concern point was tourism numbers. However, after 3 meetings with different members I started to realise that it was not the case. They were concerned about smth else.

I used every meeting to find out, what was the pain point:

— Asking direct questions "What do we have to do to make you feel better about this offer"? or "Whom do you believe, do we have to talk to about this as well?"

— Sometimes just listening to the implications

It turned out that CTO's major concern was the pressure from hotelier and restaurant owners who were also the main donors. When I restructured the presentation with the main message “It will keep hoteliers happy “ - we were propelled to the meeting with Prime minister in a week.

3. Leverage the time factor

My boss was a tough guy — this pushy type who moves fast and don't mind casualties 😅
He expected the deal to be closed in 2, max 3 months.
Pretty fast I realised that's not about to happen — Cypriots did not say "Yes" or "No".

My boss wanted me to press them for a final answer at the end of every meeting.

But I made my goal not to get the answer but to leave them THINKING that they are mission out.

It made time my friend, not an enemy. The more they though — the more they wanted our product

4. Wrap every statistical fact in a story

I dug up a lot of data — how the product we offered could make a positive impact on the tourist industry.

But I noticed that the only figure my counterparts remembered after the meeting was €6M.

All other figures were forgotten.

So, I started every meeting with a story.
How small decisions we make today can make us trendsetters, hinting that this is their change to make a difference.

Stories worked better. They left the meeting thinking about the chance we offered, not about €6M we asked for

TL;DR

I closed a deal due to:
— Active listening (I had to record meetings);
— Focus on actual challenges, not presumed ones;
— Making time my ally;
— Storytelling;
— Making them focus on what they miss if they don't sign up, not the price tag.

You can use them too, btw 😇