Power Negotiating for Salespeople

Chapter 33

Handling Problem Negotiations

If you're a big-ticket salesperson, you will frequently encounter impasses, stalemates, and deadlocks in your negotiations with buyers. Here's how I define the three terms:

1. An Impasse is when you disagree on a major issue and it threatens the negotiations.
2. A Stalemate is when you and the buyer are still talking but you seem unable to make any progress toward a solution.
3. A Deadlock is when the lack of progress has frustrated both sides so much that neither you nor the buyer see any point in talking to each other any more.

Handling an impasse

Remember that an impasse is when you disagree on a major issue and it threatens the negotiations. It's easy for an inexperienced negotiator to confuse an impasse ...