3 Ways You Can Actually Deal With Mean Customers

Nice customers are great, aren’t they? They’re friendly, open, engaging and just plain old pleasant. They make us smile. They listen attentively to our sales presentation. And they basically make us feel good about ourselves.

But there’s a potential problem with these nice buyers. Every other salesperson (i.e. your competition) likes them too! You see, these nice buyers are basically cheating on you. They’re going around and being nice to ALL salespeople (sheesh, can you believe it?!)

And all the other salespeople are soaking up every second of their niceness (just like we did). They’re giving the nice buyer every ounce of their attention and laying it all on the line. Unfortunately the nice buyer’s “love” is being passed all around town!

But guess which buyers are being ignored in the midst of this love-fest? It’s the “mean” buyers!

Here’s a tip: Do you want incremental sales? Then look for the mean (a.k.a. difficult) buyers. Nobody is being nice to them! Nobody is giving them the time of day.

My advice is to zero in on the mean buyers and go full force to win them over. It’s one of the best ways to boost your sales.

You may think working with mean buyers requires too much time and effort. But I’ve got some tips for working with the mean buyer that can make it very worthwhile.

1. Learn to Separate the Person from the Behavior

Seldom are mean buyers actually mean people. Most mean buyers simply have a lot of “stuff” going on. Maybe they’re overwhelmed. Maybe they have some not-so-great things happening in their life.

Or maybe, just maybe, they’ve been screwed over by another salesperson and they’re super defensive to make sure it doesn’t happen again. (Can we blame them?)

Whatever the reason, we need to separate the person from their behavior. In our minds we need to understand that, just because this person is being short with us, doesn’t automatically make them a jerk. Or just because this person doesn’t want to engage with us doesn’t make them a terrible person.

2. Don’t Take It Personally

When a buyer is trashing your product or service, remember to separate yourself from what you are selling. Just because they are saying “no” to what to you are selling doesn’t mean they are saying “no” to you as a person.

So try not to take their negativity personally. Don’t get down on yourself just because someone is getting down on what you are offering.

3. Watch Your Energy Level 

Mean customers are energy sappers. They can destroy your mojo in two seconds flat. But think about it, if the buyer comes in negative and you go negative, who wins? That’s right – nobody!

But, if the buyer comes in negative and you come in positive and you’re able to turn the buyer around who wins – everyone!

The energy in the sales environment is the sales professionals responsibility. Don’t let mean customers determine the energy you’re putting out.

In general, very few buyers are actually mean. Sometimes we mistake directness for meanness. Sometimes the buyer is in a bad personal situation and we mistakenly judge them as being a big fat jerk.

The important thing to remember is that your attitude and your energy are always in your control.

You choose how you behave in every interaction. So choose to believe the best about your customers. And choose to stay positive! By doing so you’ll feel better about yourself, and you may even make your buyer feel better.

In the end, if you give your best to every customer you’ll definitely see a positive impact on your sales.