Persuasion in business
 

Does anyone consciously use NLP or any type of persuasion methods in the work place?

I work for a construction firm who only do top quality work for people with serious amounts of cash, and as a result we mainly win work through reputation and quality etc as apposed to being the cheapest company.

As I'm progressing with my job I'm becoming quite important with giving good first impressions to clients, architects and other related professionals.

Do you think theres any way to demonstrate value when communicating early doors with potential clients that's worth while?.. for example a designer contacted me today and told me a bid i placed to do some internal alterations was too high, but he still wants to use us (if we can work on our price), but in an ideal world I'd like to be able to convince him our value as a company is worth the extra loot.

The problem with persuasion in business is that when someone like this person turns around and tells you they can't use you there's no way to tell whether he's actually bluffing and does have the necessary budget.

If he doesn't and you don't negotiate then you'll lose the deal but if you do then he'll feel he can do it in the future too.

What really matters isn't whether or not you're able to negotiate with people, what matters is the quantity of work coming your way, if you have more work coming your way than you can handle you can afford to to walk away(which may cause them to buy at the original quote price), if you don't then you have to accept their lower offers. The principle is similar in pua, willingness to walk away..

Have you read "How to win friends and influence people?" it covers quite a bit on sales, it's a classic.

I also recommend "The greatest salesman in the world". Excellent book.

Edit: Just checked I had the name of the second book right, it has 167 5 star reviews on Amazon too.. Other people agree with my opinion of it =P

Amazon.com: The Greatest Salesman in the World (9780553277579): Og Mandino: Books

one classic tactic is to offer a higher price to begin with then let then knock you down from there that way they think they're getting a special deal. supermarkets do it all the time by selling stuff at high margin and then doing a two for one etc ;) but don't take they're first offer say how much can you do then say a bit more than that.

I fully agree with this. Competition is a curious animal, there is always some idiot prepared to do it cheaper, or a QS telling porkies about the budget. All you can do is rise above it, portray the image of your company which is already on the right track, and develop the business. If you're stable, making good margin and growing, pilfering the extras to the hilt may not be realistic but do where you can. It takes years in the trenches but you can get to the point of non reliance on new business, then you can step up into a more abundant attitude and having that infuse your client relationships. You're still respectful, professional and invested in getting the orders, but the neediness isn't there and they can sense what you will and won't tolerate. In the meantime, act as if. Other than that, all the things you are no doubt exploring in pickup will help without your really trying. Sorry if it's not the quick fix you were after!

PS

Am reading this at the moment, has a lot of good things in it about making sales through building good relationships, would recommend it.

Agreed: "How to win friends and influence people" is a brilliant book - can't recommend it enough!

I work in Media Sales, and regularly deploy the methods Dale Carnegie discusses in that book to very great effect.

So, the most powerful way to persuade someone about something?
Answer: Make them believe that it's their idea in the first place!
Want a more substantial and detailed answer? Then buy that book!

Much love,

Craigus

indeed, h2wf&ip is amazin

Cheers for the thoughts chaps, I shall take it all on board and certainly look into those books.

Sadly the architect in my current predicament is still being a twisting asteroid so no initial feedback success wise, but nice to have some ideas from you guys as to general tried & tested directions to explore. Much appreciated & thanks for your input.