How To Become A Badass Negotiator With Customers Who Try To Haggle

Some time ago I quit. 

I quit my customer-facing work as a website design and writing freelancer. The deciding factor? The part of the process that broke me?

Cheap customers.

I understand everyone has a budget. Not everyone can afford to work with professionals within their business. That's not with this is about.

What I couldn't tolerate is when I met a potential client and they made it their mission to wear me down. They would do so until I was practically giving my services away for free.

It was almost like they enjoyed haggling with me; they wanted to win a war I didn't want to be part of.

Before I walked away, I used to do battle with them many times. I had to earn a living, after all.

But I didn't have anyone teaching me how to haggle. I didn't go to negotiation school and earn a master's in haggling with customers. I had to learn. And I got pretty good at it.

Here's a gift from me to you. Here are the ways to badass haggling techniques you need to survive customer warfare.

About those offended feelings; check them.

Negotiations feel like personal attacks. They sting, they break you, and they make you feel like you're not worth it. Here's the kicker; they aren't.

A customer negotiates with you because it's their business to haggle with you. They:

• Negotiate with everyone - Hell, they probably negotiate with vending machines.
• Want to save money - That is their bottom line; the bottom line. When money is involved, feelings don't exist.
• Aren't worrying about their feelings - They only care about getting a better price.
• Aren't trying to offend or not offend you - Their entire motivation is to get a cheaper price from you. Nothing more, nothing less.

When haggling begins, remember these four things as your dose of needed logic. Especially when it begins feeling like an illogical moment. Sure, it's easy to feel offended by this situation, assuming that the customer is attacking your integrity and worth. 

Yet, remember it's not about that. You know better.

And if you have to tell yourself humans are shitty, and they do shitty things regardless of how good a person you are, do it. It's true, after all.

Don't forget how engaging your feelings in this scenario isn't going to make you the winner. You will end up the loser. 

Stay neutral, stay emotionless.

Forget telling them the price is right

I can't tell you how much to reduce your services by. I can't give you a discount that equally keeps you and your customer happy. 

Only you can know what that is, or if that amount exists at all.

Yet, if you and the customer land on the magic number, or you're feeling as if they're not understanding you, don't justify your new price. 

Don't explain why you can't go lower. They don't need to know why. That's part of doing business. 

There is an unsaid transaction; customers aren't privileged to pricing structures. And as the customer, they should understand this. Yet, it won't stop them from asking.

And when you indulge in their investigation and give in to their requests, they won't respect you. They've gotten something out of you they know you shouldn't tell. That gives them the upper hand for more negotiations.

To avoid this situation from evening happening, I would suggest:

• Avoid waffling or overexplaining anything to them - Be clear and succinct. Simply state this is the price you can do without adding any extra information. Don't give them any facts or figures they don't need.
• Don't answer why - No matter how hard they press you, don't give an answer to why you're set on that price. Even if they keep asking, refuse that answer.
• Don't apologise - You don't have anything to be sorry for. Apologising implies you do, which they can use against you in negotiations.

Don't pretend haggling doesn't exist

Some people are subtle hagglers. 

Some people are very upfront. Either way, as a business owner, you tend to know when it's happening to you. The game becomes pretty obvious the more you see it.

Though it can seem easier to pretend negotiations don't exist in your business, you will frustrate potential customers with this attitude. As much as we don't think it's part of customer service, your customer will disagree. 

If you flat-out pretend what they're doing isn't happening, you look rude and arrogant. Not ideal when you still need to make sales.

To avoid coming across as defensive or abrasive, I suggest:

• Don't ignore the request - Before anything else, acknowledge what they are asking and give your answer. A customer can't object if you're clear, transparent, and kind about it.
• Thank the client - Yes, thank the client for asking. Welcome questions, as this encourages open conversation. And this builds connections between you and the customer. They've tried to connect with you, in a way, so you don't have to act offended by it.
• Give the customer a direct answer - Explicitly say you do not alter or negotiate your prices. There is no room for interpretation if you're clear with simple language.

Consider disengaging in the negotiation loop

Negotiating is a personal choice.

As a business, you could view haggling as a way of building customer rapport, and getting to know the customer. On the flip side, you could see it as a way of wasting time when you could be working with customers willing to pay full price.

It's your choice of how you see it and whether you engage in it. I can't tell you not to haggle with a customer who pushes you.

But when I was in business with customers, I had a rule. I didn't allow negotiations to start. Like the can of Pringles, once you start, you can't stop.

This customer will always negotiate with you

The customer you've haggled with and given a discount to will always want a discounted rate.

Not even the rate you've given them. They will keep pushing your price down every time the subject of money comes up.

Once you've given it to them, it's challenging, near impossible to go backward. They always expect you to give them high-quality service at the price they want to pay. Not the price you set, or the price you deserve, or need to earn to survive.

Other customers get wind of your negotiation skills

Word spreads quickly that your prices are flexible, so other customers believe that pricing extends to them. And now you're backed into a wall. You can't give preferential treatment like this. Other customers will expect the same price.

Or, if not the same price, they will expect a fight out of you for the price.

How to avoid the negotiation loop from beginning

• Quote with fixed pricing - Put in the conditions of your quote that your prices are firmly fixed, or not negotiable. If there is anything you're flexible on, exclude these from the conditions of the quote.
• Be upfront with pricing - If you keep receiving requests about lowering your prices, it's because you're giving an impression you're flexible with it. Or willing to negotiate. Those with upfront prices (on their website, on a flyer, etc.) are less likely to have this happen to them. Customers know what they're up for, and you attract less cost-sensitive customers who waste your time.
• Prepare responses - When someone asks you to haggle, you're ready with a response. You don't have to think about what to say. Or not to say. You can copy and paste your response, or recite your spiel. Keep refining that spiel as you learn what works and what doesn't. When your customer sees how prepared you are with a 'no', they should back down. Not always, though.

Learn when to break up with your haggling customer

It was always hard to let go of customers. 

Especially when I did everything possible to get them in the first place. It never made sense to let go of any, for fear I will never get another one again. Fear makes you have irrational thoughts in business.

Here's what I learned; a customer whose sole fixation with you is about price, they aren't for you. If they keep hounding you to reduce your prices or questioning your rates, this isn't a long-term or loyal client.

This is confirmation they are a money-driven client who doesn't see your value, nor will they ever. They aren't paying you because you're skillful or create skillful things. They're paying you because they can pay you the price that suits their restrictive budget.

These customers don't last and don't sustain the growth of any business.

I had to learn this the hard way. Eventually, I didn't negotiate anymore. I didn't feel the need to surround myself with people who didn't pay me my worth.

That's just me, though. I hope you don't learn this the hard way, too.