Six Dos and Don’ts for Sales Negotiations: A Guide for Sales Professionals and Leaders

Every sales call. Every pricing talk. Every contract review. Make no mistake – you’re negotiating. And in B2B sales, these moments can turn months of hard work into either a big win or a painful miss.

Remember your last tough deal? You know the one. Multiple decision-makers pulling in different directions. A sales cycle that felt endless. The price had to be perfect, or you could kiss your quarter goodbye.

Welcome to B2B sales negotiations. The pressure is high. The conversations are tricky. But here’s the good news: Master these skills and you’ll close bigger deals, keep more customers, and crush your targets.

Want to up your negotiation game? Here are six battle-tested principles – three dos and three don’ts.  

Do: Prepare Meticulously and Set Clear Objectives

Ever walked into a negotiation thinking you knew the deal, only to get blindsided by questions about your competitor’s new feature? Or that dreaded “Your price is 30% higher than…” comparison? Ouch.

Smart sales pros know better. Before they touch pricing or terms, they dig deep. They know every player at the table – from the CFO worried about budget to the VP of Ops losing sleep over delivery times. They study recent earnings calls, spot facility expansions, and flag upcoming tech implementations that could impact deployment.

You also need your own game plan locked tight. Know exactly what price you can’t go below, even when emotions run high. Figure out what you can trade – like faster implementation timing in exchange for a quarter-end signature. And please, get those discount approvals from leadership before you’re in the hot seat.

Take selling manufacturing software. You could walk in talking specs and features. Or you could walk in knowing your prospect just opened two new plants, is struggling with production delays, and needs better visibility across locations. Now you’re talking about solving real headaches, not defending your price.

Don’t: Overcommit or Promise More Than You Can Deliver

Suppose you’re in the final stretch of a major deal. The contract is drafted, leadership is excited, and you can almost taste the commission. Then comes that familiar last-minute request: “Could you just throw in these extra features?” “What about upgrading the support tier?” “If you could customize this one workflow…”

It’s the moment every sales rep dreads: when the pressure to close threatens to override your better judgment. The temptation to say yes to secure the deal is overwhelming. After all, those tweaks seem small at the moment, right?

Wrong. Overcommitting is one of the most dangerous moves in sales negotiations. Each promise exceeding your capabilities creates a chain reaction: Your implementation team inherits impossible deadlines. Your account managers spend months explaining why “guaranteed” features aren’t possible. Your support staff struggles with service levels that were never realistic.

Even worse? Your credibility evaporates. That “quick yes” to close the deal becomes months of strained client relationships, internal friction, and damaged trust. Your technical team has to have awkward conversations about why that “minor customization” actually breaks core functionality. Your account managers spend their energy on damage control instead of growth.

Consider Cochran’s Law – named after our partner and facilitator Jeff Cochran – which states that Satisfaction = Reality / Expectations. If you inflate the customer’s expectations to secure a short-term win, your actual delivery (“Reality”) must keep pace or you’ll inevitably disappoint the client. 

The most successful sales professionals understand this principle like the back of their hand: What happens after the contract is signed is what truly builds their reputation, not what comes before. They’re not afraid to say, “I’ll need to check on that,” or “That’s not currently part of our roadmap.” Instead, they find creative alternatives within realistic boundaries, knowing that protecting the long-term client relationship is worth far more than any short-term gain. 

Do: Listen Actively and Ask Insightful Questions

Want to know the secret weapon of top sales performers? They shut up and listen. Not that surface-level nodding while you’re planning your next clever response. Real, focused active listening that uncovers what’s driving the deal.

It’s no coincidence that Epictetus famously said, “God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we might listen twice as much as we speak.” Truly great salespeople take this to heart. They don’t just wait for their turn to talk – they dig deeper. One of the best ways to peel back the layers is by asking “Why?” “Why does this feature matter so much?” “Why is that timeline crucial?” Keep asking until you uncover the root of what’s really going on.

Think about a negotiation where a prospect keeps hammering you on price. Often, they’re losing sleep over how they’ll justify the spend to their board. Or take that procurement manager who won’t let go of implementation dates – chances are they’re still stinging from the last vendor who left them hanging. When you spot these deeper motivations, you can turn standoffs into opportunities to solve the real problems keeping your prospects up at night.

You’ll never know unless you ask – and then actually listen to the answer. “Talk to me about what happened with your previous solution.” “What would a successful rollout look like for your team?” “Beyond the features we’ve discussed, what keeps you up at night?” And don’t forget the magic question: “Why is that important to you?”

Most importantly, most buyers will flat-out tell you what it’ll take to win their business. But they won’t spell it out in neon lights. You have to listen for it, look more closely when something sounds off, and play back what you’re hearing to make sure you’ve got it right. Because when you master the art of truly listening – twice as much as you speak – you’ll discover what really needs to be said to close the deal.

Don’t: Neglect the Importance of Timing and Non-Verbal Cues

You just laid out your proposal. The pricing makes sense. The value is clear. But the prospect’s arms are crossed. The purchasing manager keeps glancing at her phone. The IT director hasn’t said a word for 20 minutes.

Something’s off – and ignoring these signals is a fast track to losing the deal.

Remember, body language is all about consistency (or inconsistency) in the signals you’re seeing. A single gesture can be misleading – someone crossing their arms might just be cold. But if those crossed arms come with a slight turn away from you and a frown, that combination is a clear sign you need to call an audible and adjust your approach.

Timing and reading the room can be deal-makers or deal-breakers. Yet too many reps plow ahead with their agenda, oblivious to the warning signs flashing right before them. Smart sales pros watch for shifted body language, notice a change in tone of voice, and pick up on subtle hints that say “not now” or “not like this.”

Take an end-of-quarter negotiation. Your prospect’s company just announced layoffs, but you’re pushing hard for that signature because you need it for your numbers. The CFO’s voice gets tense every time you mention payment terms. The CEO keeps rescheduling calls. These aren’t random events – they tell you to slow down, adjust your approach, or risk losing the deal entirely.

The best solution in the world won’t sell if you’re moving too fast for your buyers to keep up.  

Do: Build Trust and Foster Long-Term Relationships

Think the deal’s done once you get the signature? Think again. In B2B sales, today’s massive win can become tomorrow’s loss if you haven’t built real trust.

The best deals happen when your prospect stops seeing you as a vendor and starts seeing you as a partner. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you’re straight with them about what your product can and can’t do. When you send over those ROI numbers they requested, even if they’re lower than you’d like or when you tell them they might be better off starting with a smaller package, even though it means a lower commission for you.

Sure, you could squeeze out a bigger deal by hiding that upcoming price decrease or staying quiet about that feature six months behind schedule. But here’s what happens next: Your buyer finds out anyway. Trust crumbles. And suddenly, your “huge win” turns into a one-and-done deal instead of a long-term partnership.

Remember: Your reputation travels faster than your sales deck.  

Don’t: Focus Solely on “Winning” at the Expense of the Relationship

“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” “Never give an inch.” “Squeeze them for every dollar.”

Heard these before? This old-school, pressure-cooker approach to sales might work if you’re Vince Lombardi. But in B2B? It’s a fast track to burning bridges and killing your pipeline.

Here’s the cold truth: Strong-arming your way through a contract renewal or playing hardball on terms might get you a signature today. But what happens next quarter when that same client is considering an expansion? Or when their colleague at another company asks about working with you? Suddenly, that “victory” doesn’t look so sweet.

The real pros know better. They understand that every negotiation is really about finding common ground. They look for ways for both sides to win. And most importantly, they recognize that how you handle tough conversations today determines whether you’ll even get a seat at the table tomorrow.

The Real Winner’s Edge in Modern Sales Negotiations

The six dos and don’ts above cut straight to what matters: showing up prepared, reading between the lines, delivering on promises, timing your moves right, building real relationships, and playing for long-term success.

Top performers understand a fundamental truth: Genuine partnerships fuel sustainable growth. While others focus on quick wins and quarter-end sprints, true sales leaders build relationships that transform one-time signatures into multi-year partnerships. They dig into customer challenges, push back when necessary, and find creative solutions that benefit both sides.

Take one of these principles and put it to work tomorrow. Study your prospect’s business before discussing solutions. Catch yourself before making that tempting but risky promise. Watch for those subtle cues that signal hesitation or concern. Each principle you master adds another layer to your negotiation expertise.

So, don’t leave your biggest opportunities to chance. Join industry leaders who trust Shapiro Negotiations Institute (SNI) and our proven negotiation expertise. Enhance your approach today with expert negotiation training, and reach out to us to see how we can help. We’d love to connect.