Using The Bogey Tactic To Get Your Way In A Sales Negotiation

If Your Wallet Is Empty, Then It's Time To Bring In The Bogey Tactic
If Your Wallet Is Empty, Then It’s Time To Bring In The Bogey Tactic

So there you are in a sales negotiation, you like what is being offered to you but there is one small problem. You don’t have enough money to buy it. What can you do? Walking away is of course one option; however, maybe there’s something else that you can do. It turns out that this is right time for you to pull out the bogey tactic and give it a try.

The Bogey Tactic

So just exactly what is the bogey tactic? This is when you simply don’t have enough money to buy what is being offered to you during a sales negotiation and you tell the other side that.

The beauty of the bogey tactic that, if done correctly, it can turn into a win-win approach to reaching a deal. There’s a very good chance that either you’ve used it in the past or it’s been used on you (successfully probably!)

How To Use The Bogey Tactic

When you are in the role of a buyer who is involved in a sales negotiation, the bogey tactic can be your best friend. Here’s how you would go about using it.

Let’s say the other side of the table has presented you with a proposal. What they are offering is great, but you simply don’t have the cash to pay for it. What to do now?

Using the bogey tactic, you’d tell the other side that you like their proposal, but it was currently out of reach of your ability to pay. This would cause two things to happen on the other side of the table. First, they’d be pleased that you are interested in their proposal. Secondly, they would instantly start trying to think of ways that they can still make this deal happen.

You may need to prove your point. This can be done in a bunch of ways. Your goal will be to show to the other side how much money you do have to spend and why additional funds are not available to you.

What You Can’t Accomplish Using The Bogey Tactic

If you are trying to get a lower price from the other side, the bogey tactic probably isn’t going to help you out. However, what it can do is actually get you more for your money. As the other side works with you to find a way to make the deal happen, more choices will be presented to you to choose from.

Just having more choices doesn’t mean that the cost to you is going to decrease. However, by choosing wisely you can end up getting more value for the money that you do end up spending.

Why Sellers Like The Bogey Tactic

Just to be completely fair here,sellers like the bogey tactic also. The reason is because when the buyer uses the bogey tactic, then the seller knows that they are close to making a deal.

There are two things that a seller can do once the bogey tactic starts to be used. First they can test to see if the buyer ready is at the limit of the amount of money that they can spend. Often times there are still additional funds that can be tapped and the buyer just needs motivation to find them.

If this turns out to be true, then the next step is to change what is being offered. By substituting less expensive options for what was in the initial proposal while keeping the price at the customer’s upper end, the profit margin on the deal can be increased.

What All Of This Means For You

All too often during a negotiation you’ll be presented with a proposal that meets your needs, but which exceeds your budget. When this happens, you can use the bogey tactic to see if you can move closer to completing a deal.

When you use the bogy tactic, you reveal to the other side of the table that you like the proposal that they are making; however,it’s too expensive. This encourages the other side and motivates them to work with you to find ways to lower the price of their offering.

The bogy can work for both the buying and selling sides of the table. The key thing is that by revealing why an offer is too expensive, you may open the door to moving closer to making a deal that works for both sides. Don’t fear the bogey!

– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: Do you think that you could reveal how much you have to spend too early on in a negotiation?

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