4 Ways to Deal With Customers and Prospects that Just Don’t Like You

OK, I’m going to ask a question here that might sting a little but let’s just be real for a minute: Have you ever had a customer that didn’t like you? If so, why didn’t they like you? Was it something you did? Maybe something you said?

Sometimes in sales and business, personalities are like oil and water.

I ask this question because just this past week I was reminded of this interesting subject, and to the best of my knowledge, I’ve never seen anyone write about this question in another blog article. So in an effort to portray my life as a small biz owner as ‘real’ as it gets, allow me to explain the following experience.

Personality Clash

I went on a sales appointment last week to see a couple who were interested in an inground swimming pool. During the majority of the visit, I discussed with the husband (the wife was there but doing other things) what type of pool and options he was looking for and we were having a rather pleasant conversation. At the end of our discussion we began covering the cost of the project and by this point the wife became actively involved in the meeting.

Finally, when I showed the couple my price for the project, the wife immediately told me I could ‘do a lot better’. Being a little surprised by her sudden vigor, I then attempted to discuss the value of the pricing they’d been given, which value was the reason our company already had so many swimming pools on our schedule of installs for 2010. When the lady heard my response, friction quickly entered the scene, as she retorted by saying:

‘I simply don’t believe in this economy you have so many pools on the schedule. I would think that you’d be willing to give us a much better price than you have considering the way the market currently is.’

Upon hearing this statement, I, in hindsight, got rather miffed. Essentially, I felt like she was calling me a liar and I therefore explained that our company wasn’t like most pool companies and we were doing great with sales, whether she wanted to believe me or not.

Needless to say, I did not earn this prospect’s business that day. In fact, I left our meeting thinking I’d likely not hear from the couple again. Despite our cordial departure, both the lady and I knew that we clearly were not a ‘personality match’.

They Just Don’t Like You

The reason that I wanted to share this story though is because about a week later my business partner Jason emailed me and said he had been contacted by the customers I had quoted above. Upon hearing this, I naturally inquired why they hadn’t called me instead, at which point Jason replied, “Well, I just don’t think the wife likes you very much.”…….Ouch!

Everyone, whether they want to admit it or not, wants to be liked. And considering I’m a professional and see myself very good at what I do, it always stings a little when I find out that a prospect or client doesn’t care too much for my personality. Obviously, such cases are extremely rare, but anyone that has been in sales or marketing long enough knows that not everyone is going to like you. Frankly, this is just a fact of life.

Because I knew my initial meeting hadn’t gone well with this couple, Jason’s comments came as no surprise. In fact, I knew it was the right thing to turn these clients over to him. I can say this because by this point in my life, I understand this simple truth.

Not everyone you come in contact with in life will be a personality match.

And although this is rare for most nice, good-hearted people(I’d like to think I fall in this group), it’s just the way it is. The same thing has happened with my business partner Jason before. Anyone that has ever met Jason will typically say he’s one of the most kind, friendly, and thoughtful people you’ll ever meet. Notwithstanding, there have been times (albeit very few) where I’ve just had a better personality match than Jason with certain customers. For whatever reason, they just didn’t ‘get’ Jason, or he didn’t ‘get’ them, and therefore something needed to be done about it.

But because this anomaly certainly does happen to all of us in business, I wanted to mention 4 ways to deal with this problem when it arises.

1. Be Honest with Yourself

Almost always in life, when we find someone doesn’t like us, we get on the defensive. In fact, we typically verbally spout off about the other person and the reasons why they are actually the source of the problem. Although I’m certainly guilty of this, over the years I’ve learned to swallow my pride and try to view the relationship from a 3^rd person perspective. For example, upon further review of this most recent customer experience, I realized that I clearly could have handled things in a more patient, and less defensive, mindset. Fact is, I did not show any empathy whatsoever to this lady nor her ‘concerns’. And whether they were valid or not, I still could have gone about resolving her concerns in a different manner. Therefore, I suggest we always start with ourselves when this type of situation arises rather than immediately going on the defensive and attacking others.

2. Confront the Issue Head On

Often times, customers and clients can get offended without us having any idea what sparked the storm in the first place. This is why it’s always a great idea to address the problem directly with clients if you know they have some type of problem with you. Almost always, customers appreciate and respect someone who is honest and genuinely shows that they want to resolve apparent concerns or flaws within the relationship.

3. Value, Value, Value

We’ve all heard that people buy from sales persons they like, right? So then why did the couple in this experience end up calling my partner Jason to get the pool anyway? Fact is, sometimes value beats likeability. In this case, the couple had done so much research on our website and talked to so many of our customers that they felt they had no other choice than to go with us despite the fact the wife didn’t think too much of me. Kinda crazy, huh? But it is what it is, which is another reason why content is king and can overcome many deficiencies when it comes to sales and marketing in this Web 2.0 era.

4. No When to Say When

Because these types of personality clashes have happened before in our business with certain customers, my business partners and I clearly realize when we aren’t a personality match with someone else and don’t hesitate to swallow our pride and ask a co-worker to step in when needed. Sadly, simply because many professionals don’t want to admit it when there exists a personality issue with a customer much business is lost that could have been prevented.

Hopefully you’ve found some value in this unique topic of customer relationships and personality matches. As I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences, what solutions would you add to this list? How can we, as businesses, overcome personality issues? As always, your thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.

photo credit

If you liked this article, you may also like: