They're having a bad day. Or they're rushed. Or they're just naturally pissy people. If you work in sales, you've met them before. They're pissy prospects.
Pissy prospects or customers can be rude, disagreeable, frustrating, energy-depleting, spirit-sucking scoundrels who swoop into our lives leaving us feeling empty or angry. And in sales, it's our job to deal with these gems of the human race. If you haven't had one of these charmed prospects yet, don't worry, you will. They'll appear out of nowhere without any warning and your day will have taken a speedy turn for the worse.
These evil bottom-feeding vermin can be a challenge for any salesperson, regardless of the amount of sales experience or the sales skill level of the individual. Today I offer six tips for dealing with the fire-breathing, body-odor bearing, self-serving, impatient herd we affectionately call pissy prospects:
1. Act, but don't react.
Often, the best action to take is listening intently. The worst action to take is reaction. Take a chill pill and listen not only to the words of the prospect, but the needs or frustration behind those words. You are a counselor, negotiator, crisis interventionist, hotline operator, and emergency room doc all wrapped up in one earthly body. You need to determine if your prospect is a globally pissy person or a incident specific person. So listen up and soak up all the information you can.
2. Slow down your tempo of speech.
When humans get agitated, or are pissy by nature, they sometimes talk more quickly, and at a higher pitch. Fight the tendency to react in kind. Talk in a comfortable tonal range and at a reasonable--perhaps even slower than normal--pace. It's important that you don't add to the pissyness fire.
3. Talk at a reasonable volume.
Shouting, although employed often by the pissy prospect, will rarely help the saleperson's cause so therefore should be avoided by the salesperson. Therefore, keep your personal volume knob locked at a "5" or less, even if the prospect is cranked up to "10" (or "11" in the case of a This is Spinal Tap fan).
4. Lose the attitude.
Uncross the arms, loosen the pursed lips, and keep that jaw from jutting forward. As difficult as it can be to deal with these tortured pissies, keep your cool at all costs. Coolness is a tranquilizer to tense customers, so pour on the coolness while you avoid other self-defeating sales behaviors.(* see below)
5. Repeat. Then repeat again.
Sometimes pissy prospects don't want to listen to what you're saying. The remedy? Keep repeating yourself.
Pissy Prospect: "But I want you to throw in the pillow shams because I'm buying all the sheets and the comforter."
Salesperson: "I can't do that, but I'd love to add the shams to your order. Shall I do that?"
Pissy Prospect: "I'm in here all the time and am one of your best customers. I can't believe you won't throw in the pillow shams."
Salesperson: "We appreciate your business a great deal. Should I add the pillow shams onto your order?"
Pissy Prospect: "I want to talk to a manager, I can't believe how I'm being treated."
Salesperson: "I am a manager. Should we add the pillow shams to your order?"
Pissy Prospect: "I suppose, I can't very well have a sham-less pillow on my bed, can I?"
6. Give them a time out.
Customers are not always right, and when they won't play nice, they deserve a time out. Send them to their quiet spot, tell them you'll check back with them in ten minutes, and dismiss yourself. It's okay to say no to a pissy prospect, or any customer for that matter, and it's okay to end a conversation if it is no longer in the best interests of both the customer or the seller.
*Self defeating sales behaviors: eye rolling, finger wagging, nose raising, eye squinting, head nodding (side-to-side), interrupting, applying hands to hips, face flushing, voice shaking, dagger eyes, and retaliatory farting during a tense prospect interaction can obliterate your sales opportunity. Beware.
If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training.
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