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How do you handle this? Try something radically different, in terms of entertaining, than what you have done before. Create an opportunity for your customer to spend time with you and your spouse/significant other in an entertaining and non-threatening venue. Here's an example from my experience. One of my highest potential accounts was presided over by a middle-aged lady who just did not like me. I spent a fruitless two years trying to make some headway in that account, but was constantly rebuffed. At that time, my company had six season tickets to the University of Michigan football games. When it was my turn to use them, I invited that lady and her husband, as well as one other customer with whom I had a much better relationship, and his wife. My wife accompanied us, for a party of six. I know my "cold customer" would not have come, had it not been the one time in her life where she and her husband would be able to see a U of M football game live. It was a glorious Fall afternoon, and we did it right, with a tailgate meal preceding the game, and a several rounds of drinks following the game. Because my wife was with me, it took a little of the edge off the tension that existed between us. As the afternoon moved on, the tension faded away. At the end of the afternoon, we had become friends, with a mutual respect for one another. Business began to grow from that point forward, until that account become one of my best. So, option one – try to get them into an out-of-the-office situation where you can come to know one another as people, not necessarily as salesperson and customer. If you can't pull that off, then try plan B. Find someone else in the account that you can work with. Build relationships with that person and leverage that relationship into greater visibility in the account. Another example from my experience. One of my accounts was overseen by a crusty, irritable older man who told me, the first time I called on him: "We have too many vendors now, we don't need another one. And, while we don't know much about your company, what we have heard we don't like." The next few times that I called on him, he lied to me repeatedly. I decided that I was not going to get anywhere with him, and found some other people within the account to call on. I was successful with them, and gradually built the business until I was the largest vendor within that account. The older man's attitude slowly changed to the point that he and his wife accompanied my wife and I to a Tiger baseball game. At the end of the evening, his wife took me aside, and, with tears in her eyes, thanked me for the evening, saying that "No one has ever done this for him before." So, plan B. Go around the person, building relationships with someone else. Now, if those two strategies don't work, than console yourself with Kahle's rule number one of sales: You don't sell them all! Wait around for something or someone to change. Eventually, everything does. Dave Kahle ( www.davekahle.com ) is a consultant and trainer who helps his clients increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. He speaks from real world experience, having been the number one salesperson in the country for two companies in two distinct industries. Dave has trained thousands of salespeople to be more successful in the Information Age economy. He's the author of over 500 articles, a weekly ezine, and five books. His latest is 10 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople.
He has a gift for creating powerful training events that get audiences thinking differently about sales. Dave Kahle's "Thinking About Sales" Ezine features content-filled motivating articles, practical tips for immediate improvements, and helpful tips to help increase sales. Join on-line at www.davekahle.com/mailinglist.html More articles by Dave Kahle More articles on Selling Tactics | |
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