10 Sales Role Play Exercises & Scenarios To Prep for Negotiations

Like most skills, your ability to negotiate improves with practice. However, getting opportunities to practice isn’t easy.

There’s a lot on the line during a negotiation with the buyer. You need to focus on your objectives, your prospect’s goals, potential landmines, and more.

此外，这不是尝试新技术的最佳时机 - 如果它不起作用，并且事情向南发展，那么您可能会失去交易。

输入谈判角色扮演练习。与团队成员或教练一起度过一个假设的场景，使您有一个低赌注的机会来确定自己的长处，劣势和绊脚石。

pract这些活动也是一个很棒的方法ice responding to difficult events, such as unreasonable discount requests or unexpected demands.

1. Extreme sales negotiation scenario: practice dealing with extreme situations.

Many sports coaches “overtrain” their athletes."If you can run six miles in high altitudes,"they reason,"you’ll be in great shape to run a race that’s three miles at sea level."

同样的概念可以适用于销售。一旦您成功地在极端情况下进行了谈判，您将在精神上和情感上为直接的情况做好准备。

球员：

• The salesperson
• The prospect

（这个角色扮演是为两名参与者设计的 - 一名销售人员和一个前景。如果您想挑战，请以两次以上的前景进行谈判。）

Guidelines:

1. Write down the most extreme negotiating situations you’ve ever experienced (tight deadline, massive deal, legal complications, and so forth) on pieces of paper. Shuffle the papers and randomly pick one.
2. 选择谁将扮演销售人员，谁会扮演该潜在客户。
3. 贯穿场景。达成协议后（或者您达成停滞）汇报。哪些响应效果很好？哪些没有成功？您将如何将这些收获应用于将来的谈判？
4. You may choose to redo the negotiation with the same circumstances or pick another scenario from the options. Complete the entire exercise as many times as you’d like.

Sales Role Play Script:

In this scenario, the extreme scenario is that a prospect has just recently lost a supplier and is on a tight deadline to find a solution. You can adapt it to meet your individual needs.

前景:“你好！My business just recently had a contract end with our supplier for [insert something your business provides] and we’re hoping to begin a new one within the next few days.”

销售人员:“It’s good to meet you! I can definitely help you out here. Can I ask what your specific needs are so I can answer any questions?”

前景:“Yes! We have a fairly large list of clients, around 300, so we need enough [insert specific need here] to provide them with what they need on a weekly basis. Our last supplier was great with their [insert info here], but we always wished that we had [insert something your specific business offers]. I know that this is a bit of a tight time frame, but we’re really hoping we can make something work!”

销售人员:“I understand the time constraints! While it is a bit of a quick turnaround, I think we can make it happen. We specifically [insert business’ value proposition], which sounds like what you’re looking for. Our rates are [insert business specific costs], and we bill on a monthly basis. As far as getting started, we usually need about a 3-week turnaround, but we may be able to get started sooner with an additional [insert extra cost] for the first month since we’ll be getting the ball rolling faster than normal. How does that sound?”

2. Letting a client go scenario: get comfortable breaking up with a prospect.

Breaking up is hard to do — and even harder when you must tell a customer (and their commission) goodbye.

练习这些情况很重要，因为它们可能会使新的代表感到不安，并且会变得紧张。角色扮演前景分手是销售培训的关键部分，如果正确处理，将来可以赢得更多的业务。

球员：

• The salesperson
• The prospect

Guidelines:

1. 你要写各种各样的情况下,uld need to break up with a prospect. Perhaps your product/service isn’t the right fit for their business, they don’t have the budget, or they’re just not ready for your offering (but might be in a year or two).
2. 在单独的纸条上，写下可能的潜在反应，包括愤怒，沮丧和感恩。
3. 选择谁将扮演销售人员，谁会扮演前景，并循环浏览这些纸张，以便您的代表可以习惯各种分手场景和潜在的反应。
4. At the end of each exercise (when a resolution has been reached), write down what worked and what didn’t. Then, have the reps discuss what they would do differently next time.

Sales Role Play Script:

前景:“我们一直在[在此处插入问题]遇到麻烦，并希望使用您的工具来帮助我们解决该问题。”

销售人员:“I understand that that is a tough scenario to deal with. Unfortunately our service isn’t meant for [insert prospect need here], we tend to focus more on [insert actual usage for tool]. I don’t think our product is the best fit for that specific situation, but maybe you have other pain points that relate more to what we have to offer?”

前景:“不，那是我们唯一的需求 - 您没有其他选择吗？”

销售人员:“不幸的是,我很抱歉,我们不会able to help you overcome that challenge. Please know that if you ever get to a point where we can help you, I would be happy to have another conversation and discuss a potential partnership.”

3. Stalled deal scenario: challenge prospects on why they’re stuck.

Every salesperson will experience stalled deals. The prospect might repeatedly reschedule the demo, ghost for weeks at a time, or drag their feet in returning a signed contract.

Whatever the situation, it costs reps time and money. It’s important they be able to identify these situations and discover the root cause to successfully discern whether to cut ties or move the deal forward.

球员：

• The salesperson
• 停滞的前景

Guidelines:

1. The person playing the prospect should choose which stalled behavior they’ve been exhibiting. Are they calling to push back the demo again? Are they resurfacing after six weeks of unresponsiveness? Are they asking for more minor tweaks to the contract in the eleventh hour?
2. On several pieces of paper, write down and distribute the real reason a prospect is stalling (i.e., their budget was slashed, their boss wants a different vendor, or they just don’t know how to say “no”). Stalled prospects have many different emotions when a salesperson pushes them to be honest. Anger, frustration, and relief should all be emotional responses each prospect is encouraged to exhibit.
3. 让每个销售人员都会问他们的潜在问题，以了解他们为什么要回避。诸如“Usually, when someone pushes back the demo several times, it’s just not a business priority for them at the moment. Is that the case here?” can help your prospects confront whether they do or do not want to move forward.
4. Once the salesperson understands why the prospect is stalling, and have successfully either moved the deal forward or cut ties with the prospect, have reps discuss what went well, what made the prospects feel uncomfortable, and what they could do better next time.

Sales Role Play Script

销售人员:“Hi [customer name], I’m calling because we’ve scheduled a product demo for today. Is this still a good time?”

停滞的前景：“Oh, hi, sorry I was in the middle of something. Can we push this demo until next week? My boss is out of town and I want to make sure they can participate as well.”

销售人员:“That makes sense! I hear that you want to push the demo off, but we’ve rescheduled twice before. Can I ask if there are any hesitations on your end that I can help clear up to ensure we’re on the same page?”

停滞的前景：“We don’t have any hesitations, I just want everyone to know what’s going on.”

销售人员:“Okay, we’ll I’m here to answer any questions if you have them, even if there are hesitations.”

停滞的前景：“I actually do have a question. [insert question]”

销售人员:“我很高兴你问！[插入解决方案]。”

4. Common objections scenario: get comfortable answering everyday questions.

每个销售团队都会定期遇到一些相同的反对意见。重要的是要轻松克服那些反对交易的异议。这项练习非常适合不熟悉这些异议的新员工，这对于资深销售人员保持敏锐的反应很有帮助。

Players

• 销售人员
• The prospect

Guidelines

1. One person is "it" as the rep.
2. The rest of the group acts as the prospects and take turns hurling common objections at the rep. The rep has a set amount of time — it could be 30 seconds or it could be two minutes — to respond to that common objection in a way that satisfies the group and moves the deal forward.
3. 一旦克服了一个反对意见，请立即扔掉另一个反对意见，直到在热门座位上销售五分钟或10分钟的时间为止。

Sales Role Play Script:

销售人员:“Are there any questions you have for me today?”

前景:“Yeah, I’ve read online that sometimes other people who use your tool have found that [insert common pain point].”

销售人员:“We’ve heard of people experiencing that. If a customer has that problem, we usually [insert solution].”

前景:“That makes sense. But what if that doesn’t work?”

销售人员:“We haven’t had much documentation of that solution not working, but if it occurs we would [insert solution.]”

前景:“Well my specific problem is [insert pain point]. What if I solve that but I still want to keep doing [insert other common objection].”

销售人员:“实际上，您不是第一个有这个问题的人！我们逐案进行，但是在其他情况下，我们有[插入解决方案]。”

5. Savvy customer scenario: working with a customer that has done their research.

Sometimes customers do a significant amount of research before they approach a sales rep, so they have knowledge about your business and the products and services you offer.

This exercise is great for learning how to communicate with customers who may have higher-level questions than the average customer, reminding reps of the importance of brushing up on their product knowledge to ensure they can answer questions at all levels of understanding.

球员：

• 销售人员
• 前景

Guidelines:

1. 一个人是代表的“ IT”，其他人是前景。
2. The prospect should do a bit of research and come up with a higher-level question that is not commonly asked.
3. 潜在客户应与该问题接触代表并开始对话。他们已经进行了大量研究，因此销售人员会提出针对某些产品规格的问题，因为潜在客户已经知道他们想要什么。
4. 一旦潜在客户对回应感到满意，该小组就可以汇报并讨论他们认为问题的理解如何根据前景的知识水平回答。

Sales Role Play Script

In this example scenario a prospect is searching for a specific type of computer hard drive, while most customers just say that they want a hard drive with no specific expectations. You can fill in the script with examples more closely related to your business.

销售人员:“你好呀！今天我该如何帮助您？”

前景:“你好！谢谢你。因此，我从事视频编辑工作，我正在寻找可以处理大型多媒体文件传输的外部硬盘驱动器，有时每天多次，而停机时间很少。我在桌面上编辑。它需要具有USB 3连接，我希望自从我花费大量时间旅行以来，它可以便携。”

销售人员:“Thank you for giving me your specific needs! I’m happy to help you find what you’re looking for. Just for further information, how much storage are you looking for? Enough for one or two large-sized video files?”

前景:“Oh more than that, I’m looking for about 5TB minimum, hopefully closer to 8. It’s less about the number of files and more how much it can hold at a time, sometimes I need to switch between computers.”

销售人员:“That’s helpful! Let me take you to our options. These two that we have here will be your best bet, they have 8TB of storage, USB 3 and thunderbolt ports, 5400 rpm, and will run you around $300. Most people who come in here and buy these do a lot of photo editing and work with large scale multimedia files, which it seems like you need.”

6. Build on your skills scenario: identify and overcome personal negotiation weaknesses.

意识到并为您的个人谈判缺点做好准备至关重要。例如，也许您倾向于过于紧张并过早地提供折扣 - 相反，您不愿妥协会导致许多潜在的买家走开。

球员：

• The salesperson
• The prospect

Guidelines:

1. Write down one personal area for improvement related to negotiating.
2. 选择谁将扮演销售人员，谁会扮演前景。（您可以多次参加比赛，因此每个团队成员都会转弯作为销售人员。）
3. 进行标准谈判。扮演销售人员的人专注于克服，避免或应对其特定弱点。
4. After you come to an agreement or decide your needs are incompatible, debrief. The person playing the salesperson reviews their performance for their specific area of improvement. The person playing the prospect then gives their feedback.
5. Switch roles. The salesperson becomes the prospect, and the prospect becomes the salesperson. Complete the exercise again with the new salesperson focusing on their personal weakness.

Sales Role Play Script

In this situation, the salesperson is working on having trouble compromising, even when the client's value is clear.

销售人员:“我们的[插入产品，服务]的标准价格是[插入定价]。其中包括您需要解决的所有功能[插入客户端疼痛点]。”

前景:“Given that we’re such a small company, that is a bit out of our budget range. Our budget is more in line with the pricing model for the lower tier, but we need the specific functions offered by the other. Is there anything we can do to make it work?”

销售人员:“我们的价格点无法改变；您需要哪种特定工具？”

前景:“We will make the most use out of [insert commonly used tool]. We’ve found significant success doing this in the past and have doubled our revenue in less than a year. We will definitely make use of your tool, and we are willing to pay yearly instead of a month-to-month basis to show our commitment.”

销售人员:“我明白了。谢谢你的额外insight into your situation. We don’t often make exceptions like this, so I will need to discuss with my team members to decide the best course of action.”

前景:“我还能提供更多信息来证明我们的兴趣水平吗？我们真的很想与您开展业务。”

7.困难的前景情景：练习与苛刻的前景进行谈判。

Normal negotiations are challenging enough. Negotiations with irrational or demanding buyers may be one of the most challenging situations you’ll face as a salesperson. The more practice you have, the better your chances of crafting a mutually beneficial deal.

This exercise will give you experience staying calm and dealing with difficult personalities.

球员：

• The salesperson
• The “difficult” prospect

Guidelines:

1. The person playing the difficult customer chooses two to four behaviors to use during the role play. Ideas include frequently interrupting, making threats, delivering “all or nothing” ultimatums, abruptly changing your mind, bringing up irrelevant details, using critical language, becoming excessively loud, shutting down topics you don’t like, refusing to commit, and/or letting your attention wander.
2. Run a standard negotiation for 10 minutes.
3. Spend five minutes writing down which responses and techniques worked and which did not.
4. 切换角色，再次进行练习。
5. 比较您的笔记。有什么用？没有什么？确定最有生产力的方式来应对敌对前景。

Sales Role Play Script

这是一个场景的一个例子，即潜在客户不屑一顾，不愿协商不同的解决方案。您可以适应它以满足您的需求。

前景:“前几天，我在邮件中订购了这款搅拌机，但行不通。我需要退款。”

销售人员:“Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that. That’s not up to the standard we hold ourselves to, so I’m happy to help you with that. Can I ask why it isn’t wo —”

前景:“我只需要退款。”

销售人员:“I understand that this is frustrating; I wouldn’t want something to arrive faulty. I’m hoping to understand what the exact issue is so I can provide you with the best solution, which may end up being a refund.”

前景:“如果产品到达并且不起作用，该产品显然很糟糕。我只想让你做你的工作并给我退款 - 我需要与您的经理交谈吗？”

销售人员:“对不起，我没有提供您需要的解决方案，让我 - ”

前景:“请把我转移给你的经理。”

8. Win-lose bargaining scenario: learn the value of mutually beneficial negotiations.

The three basic negotiation practices are win-lose bargaining (one person gains at the cost of the other), win-win bargaining (both people benefit), and mixed-motive bargaining (both people benefit by “expanding the pie.”) This exercise from MIT, known as theTwo Dollar Game，说明这三个 - 表现出混合的讨价还价通常会导致最理想的结果。

The Two Dollar Game requires a moderator and at least six players, so ask your sales manager or another member of your team to lead it. (And don’t read the guidelines below, or you won’t be able to play.)

球员：

• Three (or more) groups of two

Guidelines:

1. Tell everyone they’ll be negotiating three times with three different partners.
2. 将每个人随机放置。每对都有2美元。他们必须将$ 2分配给他们之间。
3. Players typically first think,"This is easy -- we can each have a dollar."However, every person receives a piece of paper with secret instructions. These instructions discourage a simple 50-50 compromise. (You can find a printable version of each participant's instructions onthis page.)
4. Give the pairs 10 minutes to negotiate.
5. 将它们组织成新对，并让它们再次通过练习。给每个伴侣提供新的秘密说明。（您可以在每个参与者的说明上找到可打印的版本this page.)
6. The participants will be expecting to switch partners again. To demonstrate the importance of mutually beneficial agreements and preserving healthy business relationships, ask them to run through the exercise for the third time with their current partner.
7. 这一轮没有秘密指令:Participants can use any strategies and styles they’d like. Some negotiators will reward their partner’s kindness in the last round with kindness in this round, while others will use this round to take revenge on a hostile or difficult partner.
8. 要求每个人与第二轮和第三轮中的伴侣分享他们的秘密指示。要求他们审查自己的个人表现（在小组中或纸上），以及他们发现有效与无效的方法。

9. Varied tactics scenario: practice using different negotiation models.

Fromthe considered responsetoalways making the first offer, there are hundreds of negotiation strategies out there. Identify the top negotiation tactics your company uses, and run through each until reps are comfortable.

球员：

• The salesperson
• The prospect(s)

Guidelines:

1. Write the negotiation tactics your company uses on several slips of paper, and hand them to reps playing “salesperson.”
2. Pair each salesperson with a “prospect.” Write your company’s price on one slip of paper and the prospect’s corresponding budget on another. Try to use real numbers your reps have encountered, to give this exercise a realistic feel. Then, give the salesperson and prospect their price/budget.
3. 让每个销售人员都使用其指定策略来​​谈判价格。鼓励一些潜在客户要求折扣，并让您的代表角色扮演他们如何实时响应。
4. Once negotiations are complete, review what worked and what didn’t. Did the salesperson cave to the prospect’s request for a discount too quickly? Did the prospect feel the salesperson was too pushy? Discuss concrete improvements each rep can make next time, and run through these exercises as many times as you wish.

Sales Role Play Script

This negotiation role play scenario is using thenegotiation tactic让潜在客户开始谈判。您可以调整脚本以满足您的业务需求。

销售人员:“So, those are the terms of our deal. Our price point is [insert relevant numbers].”

前景:“Thank you for that rundown! I have a good understanding of how your service will meet my goals. However, my budget is around [insert relevant numbers].”

销售人员:“That’s good to know. Is your target number set in stone?”

前景:“Yes, our budget is very strict.”

销售人员:“您有一个范围，还是[插入潜在客户编号]您的设定号码？”

前景:“这是我们的固定号码。演讲后，我真的觉得您有最好的选择来满足我的需求，我希望不去其他地方。您愿意谈判吗？”

10. Competitor aware scenario: practice negotiating with customers deciding between you and competitor.

Sometimes customers are close to making a decision, but they get stuck between two options. They may approach a rep at one business looking to get more information to make a final decision. Some of the questions they have may be directly related to how your product measures up to a competitor, so it’s important to be aware of your value proposition.

球员：

• The salesperson
• The prospect

Guidelines:

1. 潜在客户接近销售人员，并让他们知道他们在选择您或您的竞争对手之间。然后，他们提出的问题是要让您说服他们是正确的决定。
2. 销售人员应确保他们意识到业务的价值主张，并了解什么使您与同一市场的竞争对手区分开来。
3. The salesperson should note their tone to ensure they aren’t combative or throw the competitor under the bus as this can drive the customer away.

Sales Role Play Script

Please note that you can adapt the scenario to more closely fit the products and services offered by your business.

前景:“你好！我将购买[您的业务插入产品]，并且我也接近决定，但我也在考虑[Insert竞争者产品]。因此，我希望您能帮助我做出决定吗？”

销售人员:“Sure! What are the specific factors you’re hesitant about?”

前景:“好吧，我真正需要的是一种工具（在此处插入与产品相关的功能），我知道您的功能有，但是与[Insert竞争者名称]相比，我对价格有些犹豫。”

销售人员:“Understandable! So, what we offer is [insert product specifications]. The goal of doing that is to be able to [insert product specifications]. I know there are similar products on the market, but what sets ours apart is that [insert value proposition]. Does that help at all?

While all the scenarios listed above are good for practice among your team members, it’s also possible that you’ll be asked to participate in various role play scenarios during an interview.

How To Approach Sales Role Play During an Interview

在面试销售工作时，可能会要求您参加涉及各种场景的角色扮演练习，您可能会参与销售代表。

It may seem intimidating, but there’s nothing to fear. Employers use this model because they want to see your skills in action, not to back you into a corner. It’s much easier for them to see how you operate as a sales rep if they put you in a sample scenario than it is to hear you tell them what your skills are. Here are some tips for how to approach sales role-play during an interview.

进行研究。

当邀请面试时，请进行研究，看看是否有有关面试是否涉及角色扮演的信息。虽然准备一切都很好，但这可以确认是否肯定会发生。

查看职位描述

Whether or not you’re able to get confirmation of whether the interview involves role-play, the best way to prepare is to review the job description. You’ll get a sense of the skills required for the role and what the role-play scenario may entail. For example, suppose you’re expected to be a sound negotiator. In that case, you may be asked to participate in a scenario where your negotiation skills are put to the test with a difficult customer.

Review and practice common role-play scenarios.

准备的另一种方法是查看常见的销售角色扮演方案，例如此列表中的销售角色扮演方案。您会了解他们在他们期间通常会发生的事情，并且可以与愿意提供帮助的朋友或导师练习场景。

自信点。

您被邀请回到面试，因为您给招聘经理留下了深刻的印象，他们想了解更多有关您的信息。对自己的技能充满信心，知道自己的准备尽可能多，并在情况下浏览场景。

Practice makes perfect — or at the least, makes you a stronger negotiator. Use these exercises to prepare yourself for every technique and scenario imaginable.

编者注：该帖子最初发表在August 2019and has been updated for comprehensiveness.