3 Tips To Help You Recover From Difficult Sales Conversations

Difficult conversations with customers happen on a more frequent basis during a frenzied market.

Whether it’s rising prices and material shortages or long wait and delivery times – these difficult conversations can begin to wear on salespeople especially when they are happening one after the next.

So, how do you bounce back when you’ve had a tough conversation?

The number one thing to remember when it comes to difficult conversations and how they affect you is that it’s all in your head.

No one else gets to choose how you respond, that is all on you.

Let’s suppose a customer is upset because there is an order delay, and they’re frustration is getting vented onto you. This issue is not your fault. In fact, you had nothing to do with it.

But if you’re honest, it probably is your company’s fault. That’s the truth. There was a delay, and it inconvenienced your customer.

So, your company made a huge mistake, and your customer paid the price. Now, it’s your turn.

Eventually, you get off the phone, and immediately, you have a new customer to talk to. Another phone call comes in or yet more traffic walks through your door, whatever it is.

And here’s the question.

Will your previous difficult conversation negatively affect your next conversation?

It’s your call. Here are my tips for recovering from difficult sales conversations.

1. Don’t make it about you.

I’m not suggesting this is easy. The question is, who is going to pay the price for the last negative conversation? It shouldn’t be the next customer who comes through the door.

2. Take five seconds of deep breathing in between conversations.

This can make a huge difference. Take a brief opportunity to shake off the last difficult conversation and any negativity that came from it.

3. Throw it away

This comes from my daughter when she was playing soccer way back in high school. She had this mental technique called throw it away.

She would literally grab a mistake, crumple it up in her hand, and throw it away because she could not let the last negative thing that happened affect the next move, the next play.

This is our opportunity. Take that negative experience and throw it away. Your next customer needs you. They need the best of you. Give them your best.

Just remember, the decision is yours. You can carry the negative energy of that last conversation into the next conversation, or you can choose to release it and start all over again.

That decision belongs to you, 100%. make the call. Make the decision.

The next person that walks through the door needs you, and they need the very best of you.