Great Expectations and Unhappy Customers
We’ve all had them….a customer calls you so angry that all they want to do is spit in your face, tell you what a loser you are and get off the phone or out of your sight. You, being the sales professional that you are, have the ability to turn the whole situation around and win the customer back. Your true skills will now come into play. First, you must be willing to empathize with the customer and acknowledge his problem or concern is real. To him, it is or he wouldn’t have taken the time to contact you. Then, together with your customer you must determine the best approach. Think long and hard about this one. Determine that you really want to work with this company. Are they the type of customer that you want? Back in chapter 5 we talked about who you want your customer to be? Does this customer fit the profile of the company you want to grow business with? If not, be honest enough to move on. If it does, be bold enough to fix whatever went wrong and honorable enough to make sure that it goes right moving forward.
More than once in my career, I’ve had “that call” – the one from the customer who hates their sales rep; professes that their rep can’t do anything right; that every shipment is wrong; that they can never get them live on the phone; I even had a man tell me recently that he’s waited three months for a price quote! When these calls come across, it’s important to understand that there’s a lot of emotion speaking so we need to be remain calm (That’s the tough part!). Go back to your basic skill set that you’ve now honed and start by acknowledging that you understand that the caller is upset. Commit to helping them and commit to making the situation right for them. Again, this assumes that this is a customer that you want to grow business with. In many cases, the customer will wind up being very happy and come back to you because you took the time to make their situation correct. That’s not to say that you’ll win every time in this situation. But, if you give this customer the time and attention that they are needing, it’s a safe bet that even if you wind up not doing business with them, the fact that you took the extra steps to make their wrongs right will go a long way.
TIP: you never know where your customer is going to show up! Today, he’s at Company X. Tomorrow he could be at Company Y and be strong influencer as to where purchases are made. Best not to burn any bridges along the way.
The old joke goes something like this “How do you know a salesperson is lying?” The punch line of course is “their lips are moving” Part of this is well earned though not always intentional. You are the face of your company, a thought than needs to be given serious consideration each and every time you make a commitment to the customer. The commitment might be a little one that is simply forgotten by you not at all intentional. Now think of the last time you were buying something and a simple comment was made and that commitment got over looked. You remembered it even f the other party didn’t and chances are you either spoke up and had them address it or worse yet kept silent wondering why it wasn’t important, letting it eat at you. When you think back to the transaction you remember. Don’t let that happen to your customer transactions. If you commit to something write it down, customers like to see you taking notes it reassures them that you are paying attention and says that you care about what is being said. On a side note paper and pen are favorable to typing or PDA’s the perception is not currently the same when they see you typing. The at the end of each meeting review the commitments you made before it ends to make sure that you not only have captured the commitment but that we are clear on the expectation and out come of the planning.
Then there is the classic sales problem of over committing. This can lead not only to missed customer expectations but to internal conflict as well. In many organizations the rest of the company has to attempt to deliver on what sales has committed to. It doesn’t make for the best working relationship but it also puts pressure on the rest of the company. Under commit then over deliver. Easier said than done for us sales types, but your customers will appreciate the fact that you’ve delivered above and beyond what was promised. This simple fact will put you above your competition and you’ll earn the reputation for being the sales professional who delivers more than is promised. Not such a bad place to be in comparison to your competition I’d say.
