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You are here: Home / Blog / Sales Call Reluctance / Don’t Run From Customer Problems

Don’t Run From Customer Problems

September 29, 2015 By maurasf

customers with problems
Are you afraid of customer problems?

Some salespeople are afraid of customer problems. They shouldn’t be. They think a problem demonstrates their failure. That’s not how they should see a problem. It’s a great opportunity to show customers just how good you are.

It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your worth.

You demonstrate that you honor your commitments when you show your customer that you can and will solve a problem. That’s worth something to your customers. Every customer knows at some point something will go wrong. You have just proven your value when customers know that they can rely on you to fix a problem.

You demonstrate your worth to yourself when you solve a problem.

Early in my sales career I got a voicemail that a customer had a problem. Without learning the specifics of the problem, I immediately doubted myself. I thought it would require a senior engineer instead of me to handle it. It turned out I was wrong. I missed the opportunity to build confidence in my ability to handle new challenges.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t ask for help. I am saying that you should first try yourself to fix whatever issue you face. Then, if you know it’s beyond your skillset, you should ask for help. I learned from my mistake. I never passed along a challenge before I first tried to solve it.

It’s an opportunity to prove you are different than your competition.

In the sales world you should never miss an opportunity to prove what you say. Talk is cheap and it’s almost worthless in the world of sales. Just ask a buyer what salespeople tell him.

Every salesman says his products are good and his service is great. Yet, both buyers and sellers know that service break downs occur. Does that make the salesperson a liar when he truly believes his service is excellent even when it breaks down?

No, it doesn’t. It’s when the sales professional works to solve problems that it is possible to believe his service, despite the break downs, is still excellent. Just as the sale doesn’t end until the money is in your bank account, the service experience isn’t over until the problem gets solved.

Show you are a creative thinker.

How you solve the problem is as important as solving it. Your customer will have greater appreciation for you when you offer more options that solve problems. There are often many alternatives to solve a problem that will still make a customer whole. Creative thinking produces more ideas.

For example, your customer needs product if a delivery is delayed. Can you substitute another product temporarily? Could you quickly ship a smaller amount so your customer can continue to operate? Does another customer located closer have product that could be used? All are creative solutions to a supply problem.

Your competitors want your business. You want your customers to remember that you are a problem solver when your competition calls on your customers. You are much harder to replace when your customer knows that you are unafraid to solve problems.

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Filed Under: Sales Call Reluctance Tagged With: customer problems

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About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
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President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

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