30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales #530 - Negotiation Masterclass: Your Sales Commission Savior
Dec 9, 2025
Todd Caponi, a sales leader and author, dives into negotiation tactics from his book, Four Levers Negotiating. He shares insights on why traditional ROI arguments falter late in deals, and introduces his four levers: volume, timing of cash, length of commitment, and timing of the deal. Listeners learn how to effectively respond to discount demands while enhancing deal speed and value. Caponi also discusses navigating legal hurdles and using uncertainty to pressure buyers, making this a masterclass for maximizing sales outcomes.
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The $7.5M Whiteboard Rescue
- Todd recounts flying to Houston to salvage a $7.5M deal with Schlumberger and facing a full procurement team.
- He bought time by writing four business drivers on a whiteboard and began reframing the negotiation.
Four Universal Pricing Drivers
- Todd identifies four universal pricing drivers: volume, timing of cash, length of commitment, and timing of the deal.
- These levers map directly to what businesses value and thus to how discounts should be structured.
Pay For Accelerated Volume
- Offer discounts tied to buyer actions: accelerate other divisions to increase volume for a price concession.
- Quantify the concession (e.g., 5% for accelerating another division) so negotiations focus on trade-offs.
