Sometimes it happens. The prospect has decided and drawn a line in the sand that they will not cross.
Except, they’re wrong. And, you know it. (They may even know it too. But are unwilling to change their position regardless of your insistence.) The prospect may even be treating you rudely, raising their voice, and beginning to cross the line into inappropriate behavior.
The more you try to educate, persuade, inform, and change their mind, the more they stand their ground.
The customer feels they need to be correct, and regardless of the empirical evidence to the contrary, they are taking your attacks to their opinion personally.
You know the customer is being immature and unreasonable and is refusing to acknowledge that you are an expert in the field. As a result, you are feeling attacked and, perhaps unintentionally, escalating the situation.
You’re Not Likely to Change Their Mind
When someone has dug in, even the best arguments are unlikely to change their mind. Their amygdala has already engaged their fight or flight response, and they are likely to do either. Some customers will stand up and frustratedly walk out, or depending on the emotional fortitude of the person you’re dealing with, continue to stand their ground.
You must slam on the brakes as a salesperson and STOP TRYING TO BE RIGHT!
But the customer has inaccurate information, and I know better! I need to inform them!
Okay. Do it this way and make a second sale.
“In my opinion…. but it’s possible that your experience/opinion/research is different, so let’s also….”
This phrase has an incredible amount of power. It allows you to inform the prospect but acknowledges that you absolutely recognize their opinion is valid and worth considering and then continue with the sale. For example:
“In my opinion, you will need more payload capacity than this vehicle offers, but it’s possible that your experience is different, so let’s look at which bedliner would work best.”
“In my opinion, your office will need a phone system with more capacity than the one you’re looking at, but your research may be different, so let’s look at which desktop units each station will need.”
“In my opinion, a king-sized bed would fit into this room comfortably, but your opinion is different, and that’s what matters, so let’s look for something bigger.”
“In my opinion, you should look at a suit in a slightly bigger size, but your opinion is what matters most, so let’s pick out some shoes to go with it.”
“In my opinion, this laptop doesn’t have the speed or memory you will need for gaming, but your experience may be different, so let’s pick a case to go with it.”
In my opinion, learning to be a great listener is the best way to make a sale, but your experience may be different, so let’s look at my course on power closes so you can get more word tracks to use.
