Rupert is in Sales. He had a situation that was urgent and intensely frustrating for him, and he didn't know how to handle it. His team had a fully completed and signed deal with the customer, but at the next meeting the customer said that they would not write the P.O. (purchase order). The customer is a reseller, and they had had a situation with a different product where they had bought the package, paid for it, couldn't sell it, and ended up taking a huge loss. Before they would write a P.O. they insisted on an assurance that they could get a refund if they couldn't sell it.
Promising a refund was absolutely unacceptable to Rupert's organization. Rupert signed up for Causative Communication in desperation and asked, “I can acknowledge that I hear and understand them, but where do I go from there?”
Sometimes situations look hopeless. This article is for those. It applies not only to salvaging a sale, but to any situation that looks impossible. The solution is not to withdraw. And it’s definitely not talking more when they aren’t open to it. There’s a far more effective solution, often the only one that will work.
That path is listening. Not the ordinary kind most people think they’re doing, but listening at a deeper level, one that can turn the impossible into the extraordinary.
As you read, keep your toughest conversations in mind. Notice how this approach could shift them.
Here’s how Rupert discovered it, when his Coach responded to his dilemma:
This is a difficult situation, because emotions are running high on both sides. The tendency for you is for your affinity to instantly drop. So, the first thing you need to do is quickly repair your affinity for them by finding things to like about them, so that you genuinely feel affinity for them again, despite the difficult situation.
Next thing is that you need to fully acknowledge them. But you can't really acknowledge them until you get more information. So, you need to find out exactly what is going on with them, and why they made this decision. Really dig in and ask. And understand and acknowledge fully each answer. Keep them talking, asking questions as needed until they have told you everything, so that you fully understand, and their body language and appearance show that they have gotten it all out and are satisfied that you understand.
What most people don't understand about a situation like this is that the customer is stuck in a lot of emotions and upset. By having them talk about it and by acknowledging everything they say, you are actually allowing them to get rid of those emotions and upsets. These are actually dissolved by the process of them talking about it, and by you understanding and acknowledging them. So, by the time they wind down telling you ALL about it, you actually have a changed customer. The tangle of emotions is gone, and now they can start to operate on logic and reason again.
Now, after they have fully gotten off their concerns and emotions, and they look ready to receive communication from you, BUT NOT A MOMENT BEFORE, I'd give them a big acknowledgment on the whole situation, including acknowledging all the emotion and frustrations and losses involved.
Now in this particular case, the customer has lost confidence in their own ability. So, the next thing to do is to help them regain that confidence. Show them the difference between that last situation and this one. Show them how your product is much more viable than the previous one, etc. Show them how your company will support their sales efforts. Etc.
ONLY WHEN THESE TWO STEPS ARE FULLY DONE, can you go back in and re-introduce a discussion of their obligations under the signed agreement and what needs to get done so that they can get that P.O. out. If you've done the previous steps well, you may find that the problem is already resolved and nothing more needs to be done.
Rupert had to PRACTICE all this until he achieved real communication mastery. He was confident in his ability to execute on these skills and very cautiously optimistic when he left the training session. The meeting with the customer was the next day.
I emailed him the day after to see how it went. Not a man of many words, Rupert sent back a 3-word email that had us all grinning. It was in capital letters with multiple exclamation points.
“EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS!!!”
Outstanding communication skills will ALWAYS exceed all expectations. That’s our goal for every client who enrolls in Causative Communication. To give you the skills to transform “impossible” situations into extraordinary outcomes.
Be the cause!