Sales Negotiation: How to Turn an Unhappy Customer into an Evangelist

Posted by Leili

June 24, 2008

Are you getting in the way of your own success?

Have you ever had a difficult customer? Someone who is deeply dissatisfied with your product or service?

At some point, every company runs into this problem. As Abraham Lincoln said, “you cannot please all of the people all of the time.”

How you choose to respond to this problem as an entrepreneur is a key determination in your success. Every company must recognize the value of the customer already sold. If you are always seeking new customers and just leave your old customers to languish, you will lose real and potential profits.

As an example, I know of a new boat manufacturer. This company is only two years old. One of their first-ever customers buys a boat. He is excited and decides to customize the boat with a few other pieces of equipment to make it an even better fishing boat. BUT, the additional equipment didn’t work.

Strangely or not, he blamed the boat manufacturer - even though he had added the equipment himself. The customer was so frustrated! Even though the boat manufacturer had no control over what was added after the sale, the customer decided that the equipment should have been able to fit and function properly if the boat had been designed correctly.

He decided to sell the boat and told everyone he knew how much he hated the boat. Of course, this created a huge problem for the boat manufacturer. Can you imagine trying to sell someone in town a new boat when the guy down the street says it sucks and wants to dump it for ½ of what a new one costs?

This is typical. Customers will blame the product or service, even if they used it improperly.

To my surprise, the manufacturer let the problem fester like an open wound. Instead of just doing WHATEVER he could to fix the problem, whether he had created it or not, he just ignored what seemed to be a situation he felt he hadn’t created.

Well, it’s VERY HARD to sell against negative testimonials. The manufacturer should have recognized this - especially since he is selling to a niche market. No matter how hard his Sales Director worked, his sales slowed, of course, as the situation hurt his reputation.

But the worst part – the company owner didn’t trust any one of his employees to deal with the problem. If you disempower your workforce, you create an unproductive and inefficient team. No one can actually problem solve; the owner becomes tired of putting out fires all day and wonders why he or she can’t get anything done.

Perhaps, in reality, an employee would be best to handle this type of situation because they are a step away from taking it too personally. Empowering everyone in the company to resolve customer issues creates a customer centric culture, a leading practice among successful companies.

In this case, the sales director finally took initiative and negotiated a win/win with the customer. His approach was an interesting one, so take note! He acknowledged the customer’s unhappiness and made it clear that his company would fix the problem even though they had not created it.

When the customer was satisfied, he confronted him about his negative and slanderous comments around town. The customer, who had thought he needed to be a bully to get his way, immediately backed down and the Sales Director elicited a promise from him to stop trying to sabotage the company.

That is excellent negotiating. Best of all, the customer is now an evangelist and sings the company’s praises. This is common with customers who are vocal in the first place. They are going to sing one way or another so make sure it’s positive.

Recognize and use your company’s best assets, your employees! If you are not confident about their abilities, then why did you hire them? Have you used a performance review to help both you and your employees see where they can grow and take on more responsibility?

Sometimes in business an entrepreneur needs to recognize when to get out of their own way. Remember, run your business, don’t let your business run you.