BASICS OF SALES

Inactive accounts may have a good reason for being just that. When you call upon inactive accounts you hopefully will find the reason why they are inactive. You may run into a customer who stopped buying because of a grievance that was never settled or some other problem that no one in your company was aware of.

When he stopped buying, your firm might have been too busy, too short of inventory, or had some other reason that portrayed to the customer that your firm just did not care. Now you want to bring the customer back into the fold. What do you do? Because he was once a customer, he still must be considered a source of income. His potential to buy and use your product or service is still there but your firm turned him off. He is still a source of income so how do you get him back?

In sales as in life sometimes you just have to let a person vent. Just listen and allow the customer to get whatever was bothering him off his chest, and let him blow his top. Look straight at him attentively and let him vent. Do not interrupt, do not interject any comments, do not say a word. Let him vent. After he is finished, remain silent for what you think is a propitious amount of time and your sure he is through venting, then begin to take on damage control.

Jumping right in and starting the conversation right away makes the customer feel like you are just giving him short drift and are there to just ho hum him. The key here is to project the image that you really care. That you are not there to just humor him and go right into a sales pitch. He has to believe that you are genuine. That he got his “pound of flesh”. That you allowed him to vent and that you understand that your company abused him and now someone must pay the price for that and that someone is you.

Now you have to project your feeling of concern and the fact that you want to earn the right to his business. Even if he is not ready to resume relations immediately you must leave him with the feeling that you are contrite and ready to be of service to the account if he so chooses.

I cannot tell you how many accounts I walked into where the customer was irate and down right disgusted with my company from prior dealings with other people, and I won them back. I did it by listening, allowing them to vent, and showing concern and practicing all of the above.

Thank you
Joe D'Ambra
www.basicsofsales.com
Sales blogs offering sales tips

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