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You are in that crucial pre-contract interview and objections start to fly. How do you handle the delicate business of negotiation? Construction management can often miss crucial elements of winning the tender especially at this stage in the process.

Decades ago it was assumed that objections would always arise during the course of that crucial interview with a prospective client. The contract could be won or lost at this point.

This would tend to happen, because the construction marketing process was more prescriptive, one-way, and less empathic. Anyone who knows construction marketing these days will know that landing a lucrative contract is far more about building relationships and understanding the requirements of the potential client than just walking through a presentation formula. So the need to overcome objections is not such a prevalent feature of the selling process.

Nevertheless objections do arise in that sometimes turbulent journey towards getting that order and signing the contract.

Here are my ten tips for negotiating the crucial moments leading up to finalising the deal:

1. If at the pre-contract interview objections are raised, you should clarify each one by re-stating the objection back to the person who raised it, to establish the precise nature of the objection. “Am I understanding you correctly, you are saying that…”

2. It may be necessary to probe deeper to get to the real issue. Some objections result from misunderstandings and some are used to veil other misgivings which the marketing person or company representative needs to expose

3. Objections are often, simply a request for more information, so definitely avoid responding by trying to re-sell the benefit s and solutions your company offers. Simply ask and probe instead. The best standard response is something like, “I understand why that could be an issue, can I ask you to tell me more about why it is and what’s important for you here?”

4. Simple point, but the language we use is important and conveys more than the words we use. So try to avoid altogether the use of the word ‘but’ – it’s inherently confrontational. This is all part of the process of construction marketing where the expressions we use and our body language can make or break the deal.

5. An old-style technique was to reflect back the objection as a re-phrased question, but in a form that the marketing person is confident of being able to answer positively, for example: the prospect says he thinks the estimate is too expensive; the marketing person reflects back: “I think what you’re saying is that you have no problem with giving us the contract, but you’d like us to do some further value engineering and perhaps prefer the payments staged over a more manageable period? Well I think we could probably do something about that.”

6. Another interesting technique is to isolate the objection. You simply acknowledge that apart from this ‘sticking point’, everything else seems to work fine. The old ways of marketing involved drawing up a list of pro’s and con’s, or analysing to death all the hidden costs of not going for the deal, or re-selling the benefits even harder and then to close powerfully! Such a contrived approach to objection handling is likely to insult the prospect and blow the company’s credibility right out of the window and in to outer space!

7. Although it is important to flush out all the possible objections in order to isolate, it is far better to work with the prospect in first understanding what lies beneath each objection and then shape your proprosal so that it fits more acceptably with what is required.

8. Avoid head-to-head arguments, even if you win them you’ll destroy the relationship and go no further – instead the marketing person must enable a constructive discussion so that he and the prospect are both working at the problem together; provided the basic proposal is sound, most objections can be overcome by both the contractor and the client adjusting their positions slightly; when larger contracts are at stake, this process can go on for weeks, which is a normal part of the negotiation process.

9. You’ve handled all the objections when you’ve covered everything that you’ve noted down – it’s therefore important to keep notes and show that you’re doing it. If you are in construction management or into construction marketing and you are wanting to develop your construction business beyond the normal and into high profitability, you will need to recognise the value of relationships at every level. So you must take the prospect seriously at every stage.

10. By now, you may have seen some signs that the prospect is clearly visualising or imagining the contract proceeding, or even talking in terms of giving you the order. Sales people were often taught to respond to early buying signals with a ‘trial close’, but this is widely perceived as clumsy and insulting nowadays. Instead respond to early buying signals (i.e. those received before you’ve completed the presentation to the prospect’s satisfaction and answered all possible objections) by agreeing a course of action that both parties can agree to. Your aim is to move your prospect to taking a decision.

In these days of economic recovery following years of recession, we are cautiously discovering again how to win that contract confidently. Never present yourself as the underdog, desperately seeking the work to survive. Offer straightforward solutions with integrity and promise only what you can deliver.

Masterclass In Construction Marketing