“Ah? Too high!” After hearing the supplier’s quotation, Zhang Minghui, the owner of the online shop, pretended to scream to express his surprise. Coupled with exaggerated expressions and actions, he successfully made the supplier feel the same surprise. At this time, the supplier might think: “Did my quotation really scare him? Maybe I should lower it a little bit. When the supplier has this change of mind, Zhang Minghui begins to take advantage. You know, using a surprised performance to make the supplier fall into your “trap” is a technique for indirect bargaining

For example, Zhou Yang, the founder of an e-commerce company, was negotiating with a supplier about the purchase of a batch of goods. Although Zhou Yang is the boss of this work, he did not neglect it at all and took the time to collect and organize the information. When it came to the formal discussion of the quotation, the price given by the supplier was 36,000 yuan

“36,000 yuan? So expensive!” Looking at Zhou Yang who was extremely surprised, the person in charge of the other party was even more surprised. He did not expect Zhou Yang’s reaction to be so strong, so he thought: Is my quotation really too high? Indeed, Zhou Yang did not expect that the other party’s quotation would be so different from his expected quotation. “You just said 36,000 yuan? Did I hear it right? This batch of goods is worth more than 30,000 yuan, isn’t it too high?” Zhou Yang became excited again. The place where the two parties met was a cafe, which was very quiet in itself. After hearing Zhou Yang’s surprise, the people around cast doubtful eyes, which made the person in charge of the supplier very embarrassed. After all, he chose this place, and the owner and waiter of this cafe also knew him. The person in charge hurriedly explained to Zhou Yang how the quotation was obtained, and immediately stated that as long as Zhou Yang had the sincerity to purchase, the quotation could be discussed again. The person in charge could also see that his quotation really scared Zhou Yang. After many negotiations, Zhou Yang finally made a deal with the other party with a suitable quotation. In this case, Zhou Yang did not clearly state his ideal quotation, but expressed his attitude to the person in charge of the supplier through a surprised performance: Such a quotation is too high, I cannot accept it. In fact, this is also an indirect bargaining technique that can protect the interests of e-commerce companies.

Many people may think that when the price offered by the supplier is consistent with their psychological expectations, they will not be surprised. So why is it emphasized here that you must show extreme surprise at the quotation? Because the quotation given by the supplier, especially the first quotation, is often a test to see how satisfied the other party is with the quotation. If the other party is surprised, it means that the other party cannot accept this quotation.

In addition, when you show surprise, , the supplier will be easily infected, and then will consider whether his quotation is too high, and whether to make concessions. It can be seen that indirect bargaining is to make a roundabout way without directly discussing the price, so as to make the supplier automatically make concessions, thereby fixing the price within the expected range.

In the process of negotiation, indirect bargaining can play a good transitional role, because it allows both parties to discuss some irrelevant topics first, such as their respective work and life. But in essence, this is also a kind of negotiation, but it does not directly involve the quotation. This helps both parties relax, remove their guard, and reduce their sensitivity to the quotation.

When negotiating, e-commerce companies should not use emails or phone calls, but face-to-face negotiations with suppliers. Because body language and facial expressions can become tools for bargaining with suppliers, and then achieve the purpose of making suppliers compromise and reduce prices.

In addition, when the supplier’s quotation is higher than expected and is unwilling to make concessions, e-commerce companies can ask them to compensate with non-price factors. For example, e-commerce companies can ask suppliers to bear part of the cost of after-sales service or logistics transportation, which can also achieve the purpose of indirect bargaining.

Indirect bargaining can also be combined with concessions to safeguard the interests of both parties in another way. For example, when arguing with suppliers over quotations, e-commerce companies can think from a different perspective, make concessions on the details of minor parts, and require the supplier to give the same return from the concessions. At the same time, e-commerce companies need to keep good records and write the negotiated results into the contract.

Tips

Indirect bargaining techniques can also be used in non-price factors to protect their own interests. Many times, the negotiation process is actually a process for both parties to protect their own interests. In this process, there is bonding, compromise and concession, as well as strong pressure. Indirect bargaining can make these factors complementary and promote the transaction between the two parties.