When you’re working in business, making deals happens all the time. From the deals you make to sign a new client to the deals you make with your own providers, making deals is a big part of any business person’s day.
But how many of those deals are actually good?
A good deal isn’t always easy to find or obviously beneficial. Sometimes a deal can start out by seeming to be amazing and yet, over time, the benefits fall away and what’s left isn’t good at all. Equally, some deals don’t look immediately beneficial and yet, there is potential to make them even better than you had imagined.
So how do you find a good deal?
Every deal comes with some pros and cons. Striking a good deal with someone balances the risk on both sides and means that everyone is happy. A good deal might also be called a fair deal as you aren’t pushing the other party into making a loss but they aren’t so expensive that you can’t reach an agreement.
This is where balancing those pros and cons come in. You might be willing to accept higher prices to reduce your perceived risk or perhaps you are willing to try a new provider who doesn’t yet have your complete trust by agreeing a short term deal to see how things go.
Before you make any deal, you must always do your research and make sure you know exactly what you want. That’s the only way to identify all the pros and cons: learn everything about your business world.
Any deal should be continually reassessed to ensure that it is still working. Using data driven category management is a good tool to help you decide whether a deal is still good given a change in circumstances and any other fluctuating data regarding the deal.
While it can be tempting to make a deal and then leave it to one side, every decision you make in business has long term and continuous effects. By regularly checking up on deals you have made and working out whether you could have a better deal elsewhere, you can stay on top of your finances and keep honing your business practice.
You may have struck the perfect deal at the time but the market moves fast and you must keep an eye on the competition - yours and your providers. If you spot a better deal with another provider, it is always worth looking into because this could be what your business needs to grow. Even if you are locked into a deal, you must keep your eye on the market so that you are prepared and can change things up when your current deal ends.
While it’s easy to strike a deal and then forget about it, you must stay vigilant to the market dynamics and be prepared to switch at any time. Business is brutal in that sense but it’s also what makes it so exciting.
[Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels]