You’re staring at a buyer who’s got you by the throat. They’re half your quarter. Their assistant just walked three competitors out of the conference room. And you’re about to do something stupid: cave on everything before they even make a demand.
We see it constantly at SNI. Salespeople think no leverage means no options, so they negotiate against themselves. They cut prices, throw in services, and do whatever it takes to avoid losing the deal.
Stop right there. That feeling of disadvantage is certainly real, but it doesn’t have to dictate your next move. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a disadvantage at all.
That’s where our Prepare, Probe, Propose framework comes into play to turn the tide in your favor. Not by using power or manipulation, but by using the Power of Nice to change the entire conversation.
You’ll be surprised at how feeling outgunned is actually the best time to get creative and find solutions neither of you saw coming.
Why Perceived Disadvantage Feels Intimidating
First and foremost, let’s be honest about why you freeze up.
Procurement teams hide behind RFP requirements that seem designed to eliminate you. Enterprise buyers drag you through six-month cycles while your quota clock ticks. The decision maker brings their boss’s boss to the meeting, and before you know it, you’re presenting to people three levels above your pay grade.
The fear hits because it feels absolute. You see their power, not their problems.
However, it’s easy to forget that we’re all human at the end of the day. Every buyer sitting across from you has their own issues: budgets getting slashed, deadlines they haven’t mentioned, internal politics that make your deal their lifeline.
The disadvantage you feel is understandable, but it’s rarely the whole story. Sellers who dig past the surface, who ask the uncomfortable questions and offer genuine trades instead of giveaways, discover leverage they never knew existed.
And that’s the crux of our three step Prepare, Probe, Propose framework
Step 1: Prepare with Boundaries and Planned Flexibility
You can’t discover that hidden leverage if you walk in blind. Preparation means getting brutally clear on three things before you shake hands.
First, know your walk-away point. What terms would genuinely hurt your business? Draw that line now, not when they’re staring you down.
Second, set your highest goal. Even when you feel outgunned, you need somewhere ambitious to start. Low expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Third, plan your concessions. What can you trade that costs you little but means something to them? Free training? Faster implementation? Payment terms? When you plan these trades ahead of time, you look strategic. When you make them up on the spot, you look desperate.
Walk in knowing these three things, and that intimidating buyer becomes just another conversation.
Step 2: Probe for Hidden Pressures and Priorities
Now that you know your boundaries, it’s time to find out what’s really driving them. Because that aggressive price demand is almost never the full story.
Start probing and asking the questions that can reveal what’s underneath the surface. What’s their actual deadline, and who’s breathing down their neck about it? What happens if this implementation goes wrong? How will their boss measure success six months from now?
These questions crack open the facade. The procurement team hammering you on price might be terrified of another vendor failing them. The buyer demanding massive discounts might need you live next week to save their product launch.
Every real answer you get shifts the conversation from what they’re demanding to why they need it. And that’s where you find leverage you didn’t know existed.
Step 3: Propose Creative Options that Expand Value
You’ve found what’s really driving them. Now use it. Stop playing defense on price and start offering trades that solve their actual problems.
Can’t budge on cost? Offer payment terms that help their cash flow. Bundle training or support that costs you pennies but saves them headaches. Propose a pilot program that gets them started without the scary commitment. And remind them why vendor stability matters when their last supplier left them hanging.
The point is to give them wins that don’t require you to bleed margin. Every creative option you propose moves the conversation away from your price tag and toward their real needs. Suddenly you’re problem-solving together instead of arm-wrestling over discounts.
That’s when deals get done.
The Power of Nice: Why Being Human Beats Being Tough
Here’s what nobody tells you about negotiation training. A lot of it is garbage. Get tough, show no mercy, crush the competition. We teach the opposite because we’ve watched enough deals die on that hill. The Power of Nice works because the person across from you isn’t your enemy. They’re someone with their own problems trying to get through their day. When you solve problems together instead of being adversarial, you both walk away whole.
Concessions That Build Trust, Not Weakness
Every concession needs a partner. You give, you get. This isn’t scorekeeping. It’s showing respect for what you both bring to the table.
Say you’re getting hammered on delivery dates. “We can accelerate delivery if you agree to a longer contract term.” They need speed, you need stability. Both problems solved. Or they want a price break that would kill your margin. “I can reduce price slightly if you provide a client referral or case study.” They save money, you get marketing gold.
Start with small trades to test the water. Hold back the bigger moves until you know what really matters to them. Each exchange teaches you something about what they value. More importantly, it teaches them you’re someone they can work with, not against.
Making It Stick Through Practice
You know what happens when most people try this under pressure? They forget everything and panic. That’s why our clients practice until their hands stop shaking.
They rehearse tough scenarios where buyers have all the leverage. They practice sequencing concessions when everything feels desperate. They pick apart their real negotiations while the bruises are still fresh. Not because we’re trying to create robots, but because your instincts under pressure are probably wrong.
Most sellers cave when they should probe. They give when they should trade. They panic when they should get curious. Practice rewires those instincts. Eventually, finding hidden leverage becomes as automatic as spelling your name.
What This Looks Like in Real Deals
We worked with a SaaS provider getting destroyed by procurement on price. Every meeting was about discounts. So they stopped talking about the price entirely and started talking about going live next week versus next quarter. Procurement cared more about speed than savings. Full price. Better relationship.
We also had a logistics company stuck in compliance purgatory with every RFP. So, instead of competing on cost, they bundled in sustainability reporting that took five minutes to add but saved buyers hours of regulatory hoops to jump through. The conversation went from “you’re too expensive” to “you keep us out of trouble.”
Then there’s the medical devices seller who turned training and support into currency. Their buyer had a team that needed wins. So instead of cutting prices, they made that team look brilliant with implementation support. The buyer’s boss loved it. Three-year deal at full margin.
These sellers didn’t get tougher or smarter. They got curious about what was really happening across the table. And that made all the difference.
Stop Negotiating Like You’ve Already Lost: Turn Perception into Leverage
You walk in defeated, you leave with nothing. It’s that simple.
Most sellers see a powerful buyer and immediately start making concessions. They cave before anyone even asks. Then they wonder why they feel sick driving home.
Use our Prepare, Probe, Propose framework and watch what happens. You know your limits before you sit down. You find out what’s really stressing them (hint: it’s never just price). You trade instead of fold. And before you know it, you’re the only seller who isn’t desperately throwing things at them.
The Power of Nice works because everyone else is either desperate or playing tough guy. You? You’re the one who figured out their real problem. That’s leverage, even when you can’t see it yet.
