CIRCUMSTANCES

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people
who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

SMILE:
Smile…. It confuses people

7 difficult customers

All of us have our share of ‘difficult’ customers.

Instead of treating all of them to be uncooperative, sometimes “idiots” & writing them off, understand their personality type & change your sales style matching theirs!.

In the past two decades, I am fortunate (!) to have come across number of such challenging (i would say, instead of difficult) customers.

I have tried to classify them into seven types. I am also sharing with you what I did, to enjoy doing business with them.

1: Excitable types.

Typical behavior : Energetic, talkative, gregarious.
My frustration: Bounces from issues to issues, difficult to focus.
What I did: Answer many questions, focus on big-picture issues, and find creative solutions together.

2. Deliberative types.

Typical behavior: Thoroughly methodical, practical, hardworking
My frustration: Takes virtually forever to take decisions.
What I did: Provide more documentation than usual, emphasize practicality and don’t rush.

3. Judgmental types .

Typical behavior : Informed & confident
My frustration: Critical, arrogant, condescending
What I did: Know my proposal in more detail than usual, asked lot of questions, listened to the opinions he or she shared freely, and focus on results.

4. Sensitive types.

Typical behavior: Thoughtful, caring, empathetic.
My frustration: Enjoys chatting/talking, ignores cold facts.
What I did: Make the personal connection, focus on the process, and emphasize how solutions will help all the people involved.

5. Hostile types.

Typical behavior: generally angry, extremely critical
My frustration: Humiliating, insulting, won’t listen to reasoning.
What I did: Remain calm, speak in an even tone, let the customer blow off steam, restated the issues & then proposed a solution.

6. Pessimistic types.

Typical behavior: Negative, gloomy, self-effacing
My frustration: Views nothing is possible, searches for negatives in everything.
What I did: Listened actively, addressed negatives first, then offered the customer with facts; focused on all the positive aspects of a solution.

7. Unresponsive types.

Typical behavior : Quiet, uncommunicative, extremely reserved.
My frustration : Won’t reveal true opinion, avoids questions.
What I did: Ask many open-ended questions, endure & ‘use’ silence, built on small developments to take sale forward.

By Sanjay Limaye

Who exactly is an entrepreneur ?

well, to me entrepreneur can be summed up by the following mnemonic:

E xcited about taking your business or ideas to a whole different level
 
 N ever holds the “I can’t” attitude
 
 T reading water is not an option, entrepreneurs dive in and take action.
 
 R ealistic, although very challenging, goals in life and business
 
 E ngaged in planning, building, or expanding their business
 
 P ure love for working for themselves and not making somebody else rich
 
 R ealizes the only way to be happy in life is to do what you truly want to do, and not what you have to do.
 
 E xtends a helping hand to fellow entrepreneurs in need.
 
 N ight and day, months and years, we pour our blood, sweat, and tears into what we love and don’t stop until we are truly satisfied
 
 E ntrepreneurs are those who organize, manage, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise
 
 U nemployment is not a worry. We want to be the ones employing people.
 
 R eady as ever will be to take on whatever the world throws at them, no matter what hardships or obstacles stand in the way