"For the first time ever, I am very unhappy with the service I have received from some of your co-workers!" This was the first words out of a customers mouth to me when I happily picked up the phone. He also went on to say, "And I want you to do something about this! This customer was mad. No, more like livid!
So, the first thing I asked was "What happened that made you so unhappy with the service you received?" He went on to tell me his story about a technical representative who provided him with answers to some of his questions that he felt were unacceptable and how this person didn't seem to have the time of day for him. Since this was such a disappointing experience, he decided to call his Regional Sales Manager, who reports to me, and how he was very unhappy with the answers he also provided to some of his questions. I asked him to explain further.
This customer went on to tell me that the technical service representative did not know the target market for a new product recently released. He also provided some information that he knew was in error. He was getting no where. Then he contacted the Regional Sales Manager to try and get some of this information. All he received from him was advice that he needed to research the market more before presenting this new product as a solution!
So, I asked him, "Can you please explain to me why you are asking these questions?" He said that he had spoken with some experts in the industry he was approaching and they wouldn't use this new product and that no one in their industry would. Then I asked this irate customer, "Do you get a chance to ask these experts what they do use?" He said that no, he did not. "Did you explore other possibilities as to their needs? His response? "No." I then asked, "Do you know how averse they are to taking risks?" (Which is prevalent in this particular industry, depending on who you are talking to) "No." I knew I had found the real source of his frustration. He did not ask the experts the questions he needed to in order to find their needs. I provided him with some information on this industry and how some of these customers might look at this certain situation. I suggested that the next time he has the chance, please ask these questions and find out what they do use to see if we have a product that can fit their very specialized needs. I then asked him if he felt this advice answered some of his dissatisfaction and was fortunate to get a positive answer. I advised him to contact the supervisor of the technical service representative to discuss with him the level of service he received from that person as this was not something I would be able to address. I then told him that I would be sure to cover the advice I provided him with the Regional Sales Manager the spoke with. Would this make him happy? He again answered yes.
Now, you might think that this is the end of the story, but I also felt like there was something else, something he wasn't saying. So, I said, "It seems like there might be something else bothering you. Is there something else I can help you with?" He said that before he called in to the technical service representative, he had been contacted by two of his customers with complaints that he found to be unwarranted and did not quite know how to answer. I provided him with some suggestions on how he could answer these two complaints and he voiced his appreciation for this additional advice. You see, sometimes you also have to listened for what is not being said. Follow your instincts and your intuition.
The bottom line? It took me about 20 minutes to diffuse a situation that could have turned ugly if I had become defensive or listened with the intent to respond. I listened with the intent of trying to understand his situation. No judgments, no right or wrong, just to understand what he was experiencing. I could have labeled this customer as a complainer and one that would not take responsibility for his lack of question skills, but what purpose would this have served?
One of the main listening blocks that we all experience is the "being right" block. This is where we feel we have to show someone that we are right, which of course means they are wrong, when listening to their story. Now, you might say that this was not a sales situation, but I would push back on that comment. I had to influence this customer and point them down a path that would not only solve the issues he had, but to help him improve in situations like this in the future without alienating him. That is selling in my book.
If you are across from a prospective client and you offer a solution to their problem before they get their entire story told, you are experiencing what Mike Bosworth, in his book "What Great Salespeople Do-The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story" calls "premature elaboration." If you have enough experience with past customers to see the solution of a prospective customer before they get their entire story told, and you present this solution before they finish, you are experiencing premature elaboration. You can be right, and what my Dad would call being dead right. You will experience the feeling of being right, but the sale will be dead.
Even if, half-way through a sales call, you have the perfect solution for that client, try to practice artificial patience. What is this? It is where you know you have to be patient enough to get to the end of their story even when you know where it is going to end up. If you do this right, it will end up with a unhappy customer being happy, or a new client signing the agreement.
Good Selling!
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