SECOND REP IN

Have you ever felt like you need a Kevlar vest when walking through a customer’s door? You know the customer I am talking about, no sooner do they see you then they start their assault on you. You haven’t even had time to say hello and they are in your face.

Sometimes they attack because of something you have done to them. If this is the case well to tell the truth, you are on your own! Either you over promised and under delivered, outright lied about something, didn’t make sure they understood everything you had said, or any one of a thousand other mistakes that reps make. As I said if this is the case stand up and take your lumps, make sure you learn from your mistakes, and don’t do it again!

Sometimes when a customer attacks you it has nothing to do with you. It is something the last rep did (or didn’t do), it may be something your company did (or again didn’t do), it could be a seed a competitor planted sprouting in the customers mind, or any one of a thousand other things that we had no control over.

So what should we do when we are catching a ton of grief for something we didn’t have anything to do with? First of all LISTEN! Listen to what the customer is saying. In many cases just having someone to vent to will defuse the entire issue. Let them talk, let them yell, let them scream, just look them right in the eyes and LISTEN!

When they are done ranting you need to start a conversation of healing. We all know that the customer understands that you are not the person they are mad at, you just happen to be the person in front of them at the moment. Start off the conversation letting the customer know that you fully understand the problem and that you also understand why they are upset and that you don’t blame them for being upset.

At this point you need to be the therapist; you need to make sure you don’t over react to what was said. If you immediately start with the phrase, “You are right” you could end up needing to give away the ranch because of what the last rep promised. If you say, “I don’t fully agree with you” well you are now on the OTHER SIDE and become the enemy.

The best statement to make is one stating your understanding of the situation and assuring the customer that you will find out what happened or why it happened the way it did. This lets the customer know that you are willing to at least consider their side and that you will work to get to a mutually acceptable solution.

As you get into the conversation you also need to make the customer understand that you can’t undo the past. You will try your best to get everything straight, however either way you can’t undo what has happened, but you CAN make sure that it doesn’t happen again!

Tell the customer what you will do to make sure that a situation like the one they just yelled at you for will not happen on your watch. Ask the customer what they think would have made the difference between them being mad and being a satisfied customer. Get their input; once you have it you can make sure your solution matches theirs. If you are giving them a map for success that they themselves made, they will be thrilled with it every time!

Before I close, let me add something more; you are not a whipping post for customers! Like I said above, listen, but if the customer get abusive verbally or physically you are not expected to take that. GET OUT! Be professional, don’t let the customer drag you into the gutter and you start yelling and screaming back. Don’t ever lose your professional manner. If it gets to the point where you think the customer has crossed the line, turn around and walk out. FIRE THAT CUSTOMER! If they were that upset, the chance of selling them was minimal anyway.

It is hard enough selling when we need to sell and rebuild bridges other reps have burned our jobs become exponentially more difficult.

Lorin