Negotiating Interview

Last week, I interviewed a salesman. He shared some experience of his negotiating style. He works for a for profit healthcare facility, so he was boasting of the quality of his clinic during the interview. He illustrated that the service of for profit clinics is better than non-profit clinics, but the cost is much higher. Their goal is to sell more medicines, which are not being covered by the customers’ health insurance.

I asked him about his BATNA before negotiating with potential customers. He answered “understanding customer’s interests are very important, because people in different age group have different health perspectives. “  He showed me that old patients might want to reduce costs by going to the non-profit clinics, while the young patients want to get cured quickly with a good service, thus they choose for-profit clinics. However, we can change some old patients’ perceptions by using objective criteria to describe the outcome, that has impact on them, such as showing facility’s credentials, different services that we may offer, and providing some examples of relevant interests. These also could separate the people from the problem.

Dirty tricks seldom happen to heath care industry, but recognizing when people try to employ dirty tricks is very important part of negotiation. If you see a dirty trick attempt during negotiation, you can magnify the trick with the law.

Moreover, if you want to obtain more clients you need to build long-term relationship with them. The most efficient way to build relationships with them is by keeping track of the patients’ condition. When the patients have a fully recovered then you may send them some good words, which can make them feel good. For this reason, they may introduce some clients to you by your good services.

He also explained that the communication style is critical to obtain more clients. Our body language, tone, and words directly affect the outcome. Lack of eye contact often interprets that you seem to disregard or not interested. Inappropriate words and tone illustrate you are not professional and cannot be trusted. If both parties are not consistent, then efficient negotiation with the customer will be difficult. Therefore, creating a professional and comfort negotiating atmospheres are very important for successful medical institutes.

He emphasized that the salesmen need to understand patients’ needs, situation and interests. These are particularly key negotiation strategies for any sales people, asking patients more questions about their concerns, analyzing what is valuable to them and their needs. Once you understand their interests, you can create mutual gains. Then directly approach their interest showing them how it will benefit both parties, and telling them the advantage of outcomes on how you will reach their goals from other clinics. They will be satisfied with your offer without any concern about the cost.

Picture from:http://courses.independent.co.uk/training/negotiation-skills-workshop-175579