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35Align on an Agreement

Alignment is when all your planning and preparation takes a seat at the table. In the alignment stage of the DEAL framework, you will entertain offers and make counter offers.

The objective of the alignment step is to negotiate an agreement with the buyer while protecting your most valuable leverage—those things that negatively impact your income and your company’s profit.

Where there is alignment, there is agreement. If the buyer agrees with your value bridge and explanation, you’ll shake hands and ink the deal at your proposed prices, terms, and conditions. This is the best-case scenario and your goal.

But sometimes, a point of contention lingers after your explanation. You’ll need to make some concessions and work with the buyer to come to an agreement. This process—Discover > Explain > Align—is fluid. In complex situations it may be repeated on each major issue.

The good news is that when you are negotiating as the vendor of choice and have demonstrated a solid Value Bridge, alignment conversations tend to be collaborative and transparent. Concessions at this point are often about giving the buyer something so they can save face.

Focus on Your Sales Negotiation Map

You are going to make concessions. You are going to give and take on price, terms, and conditions. But as the great Yogi Berra is famous for saying, if you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else. When you are negotiating with savvy buyers, that someplace else ...