314: Don’t Argue With The Client

<p>The client is always right.  No they aren’t. We usually have more information about our offering than the buyer and are across the breadth of our range of solution in a way they can never be.  We are interacting with a variety of buyers in the industry and the sector and are constantly picking up intelligence on what is working and what isn’t.  We are not being driven by internal politicking, as ambitious rivals jockey for position.  We have the client’s best interests at the forefront and firmly in our mind, because we have one goal for our business and that is getting the re-order. Clients however will have partial information, wrong information and will lack information, none of which disqualifies them from telling us their view of the world as they see it. </p> <p> </p> <p>This can become very frustrating for salespeople.  We are often setting ourselves up for frustration because we forget that the buyer isn't the same as us in terms of scope.  We are expecting too much of them and when we don’t get it we are upset.  We know the buyer but they forget and ask another company to supply them.  They met us a while ago and that memory has disappeared. They just went to our competitor because it suited them to, but we absolutely don’t like that.  We feel betrayed.  Add these frustrations to the pressure cooker that is sales and tempers can be short or fraying. </p> <p> </p> <p>I divide clients into two bundles – those I like and would want to make a friend and those I just do business with. The chemistry won’t be there with every client and we still need to get business done, so if the stars don’t align, so what, make the sales anyway.  If we can turn the client into a friend, then that is better because we all spend so much time at work it makes sense to find people you like in that environment. If you are in sales then you had better be spending your days with buyers, if you want to get anywhere.  It stands to reason some number of the buyers will become friends.</p> <p> </p> <p>For the others, it will be a st