You better believe it! Does it really matter if you’re right? Yes it does, but not at the expense of making your customer wrong.

If I had to choose between being right and losing a valued customer – and being wrong and helping my customer see the situation as their opportunity – I would be wrong every time.

There is such power in admitting to others that we are wrong (if you dare,) particularly if you are learning and growing from the experience. This demonstrates you have substance and real character – certainly enough, not to indulge in the great delusion of being perfect.

Why do so many people need to be right? Because it validates who they desire others to believe they are. And in the cut throat dog eat dog world of business being wrong can cost you. It takes a strong person to admit when they are wrong, particularly when their reputation or financial loss is at stake.

Customers want to be right simply because they are paying for the privilege. If you make your customer wrong, make no mistake – everyone loses. You lose their patronage (yes, they will leave in the pursuit of being right) and they lose your ability to fulfil their needs and aspirations.

Understand the power of being wrong and use it as leverage to build long lasting relationships with righteous customers.

When you’re right and your customer is ‘blatantly’ wrong, don’t take this opportunity to highlight their humility and boast your superiority ―instead choose to take the higher ground (empathy) and transcend their wrong into a right that benefits both you and them.

Two wrongs can indeed make a right, but it takes empathy and a willingness to see others from a different perspective.

Inspire,

Trent Leyshan                               Sales Training  ∙   Sales Book  ∙  Sales Coach

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Motivation, Sales, Sales Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.