|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Title:
7 difficult
customers - By
Sanjay Limaye |
|
Posted Date: 02/01/2006 |
|
Short Description |
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!.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
7
difficult customers - By
Sanjay Limaye
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. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
