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 my customer – and being wrong and helping them see my wrong as their opportunity – I would be wrong every time.
Some people will defend being right to the death, even if they are wrong. Others will alienate and push-away customers out of principle just to prove they are right. And this is ok, but be careful not to bit off your nose to spite your face in the process.
There is such power in admitting to being wrong, it demonstrates you have substance and real character – certainly enough, not to indulge in the great delusion of being perfect. Let’s face it, we all make mistakes, some small and some enormous, and others more often than they care to admit. But we all make them, yes, even customers.
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 relationships with righteous customers.
When you’re right and your customer is blatantly wrong, don’t use this opportunity to highlight their humility, instead choose to take the higher ground (empathy) and transcend their wrong into a right that benefits both parties.
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
