Do You Like Negotiating?
Last year and a half have been tough, we couldn’t go out, couldn’t be in a crowd, couldn’t travel. That’s why let’s daydream a bit and in our imagination go somewhere exotic. You are in India making your way through a bazaar. It’s a nice day, not too hot; but you are overwhelmed with smells, colors, sounds. Everything is moving and everybody is talking. Suddenly you notice a beautiful piece of fabric being sold at one of the stands. It’s fine silk in sky blue color and you already imagine what you could make out of it (maybe you are even specializing in tailoring or house accessories and can see right away a new product you can offer to your customers). So, what do you do? Follow the local custom and bazaar rules and start bargaining asking for a better price, maybe even walking away and coming back? Or pay the asking price? Remember, you are a new customer and perhaps even look like you are from a faraway land, therefore chances are that the asking price is way too high.
From our experience, we can tell there are two kinds of people: those who can’t or don’t want to bargain, because they are shy or in a hurry or don’t know how; and those who get into it and have fun during the whole process. Even in our team, we have those who hate it and those who find negotiating exciting.
The problem is that in business life the situation is exactly the same: you find something you need and either pay the price as requested or try to ask for a discount. It’s called negotiations, not bargaining, of course. And the process is more sophisticated, but the essence is still the same as in the bazaar. And exactly like in the bazaar it’s wasteful to pay the amount you were asked in the beginning.
So, which group do you belong to? If you prefer to skip negotiations because it’s not in your character or you don’t know how your business is suffering and you are losing money. If you don’t mind it but it requires a lot of effort and time from your side exactly when your business needs you to focus on your core activities, so you promise yourself to get into it when the time allows, but skip it for now, your business is suffering and you are losing money.
But we got carried away thinking about business. Let’s get back to the fabric stand in the Indian bazaar. Luckily you are not alone there, but with a friend who’s been successfully buying from different vendors in this bazaar for many years. While you are thinking what to do, she takes action. You watch her talking to the vendor and hear that the price is going down. Professional is at work and you don’t need to interfere. Moreover, you got some time to check other stalls for other fabrics or goods you could buy for yourself or your homeware business. Or maybe you just don’t want to disturb her and spoil the results and go to a nice local restaurant nearby, order yourself a Kingfisher and watch the market life unfolding. And when your friend finally joins you smiling with satisfaction and carrying the piece you wanted, you smile back and reward her with a cold beer.
Travelling can be so exciting and rewarding, and we all will start soon again. Until then back on Earth, you keep on working and consider EoS4U being your friend, who will negotiate with the suppliers for you, bring the prices down, and deliver the goods when you don’t want or don’t have time or energy to get involved into procurement. We promise, that you will be supported by the part of our team that actually enjoys negotiating a lot.