If your salespeople are complaining about clients, this is a serious symptom of a larger problem: the negative conversations are being reciprocated on the client side.
If this is the case, I encourage you to have a real and candid conversation with key people involved immediately. The first question should be, ‘what and how are we not meeting our client’s expectations?” The response, if honest, will provide valuable insight into the client’s real issues and values to allow you to address them and move forward together. I would also encourage having the same conversations with key clients to establish what’s really important to them.
You must demonstrate you genuinely care about your clients and their best interests. Unhappy clients are like fruit, if you leave them on the vine without care for too-long they rot and fall-off. Instead, identify why these team members feel the need to engage in disrespectful conversations regarding clients. Often a manager receives a deceptive or biased interpretation of the client problem. This is designed to protect the salesperson or account manager’s reputation. In serious cases, I recommend going direct to the client as a more effective course, but in a way that doesn’t disempowered the salesperson and promote an internal dissonance to the client.
The most powerful way spread a message is via rumours. Negative rumours spread like wildfire through an organization and into the clients. My motto is if you’re going to spread a rumour, particularly about clients or team members; make sure it’s a positive one. Spread positive rumours! Be the catalyst for positive innuendo, you will be amazed at what happens and how often it comes back to you, though not your intention.
If a number of clients are genuinely problematic through no fault of your own company, I encourage you to consider if they are the right fit? Companies can be guilty of ‘taking what they can get’ and ‘any sale is a good sale’ and have no clear definition and understanding of what constitutes a valuable customer. This doesn’t advocate speaking ill of a client, yet it may explain why many aren’t happy and are coming across as difficult.
At the end of the day without customers there is no business, so talking about any customer in a negative tone is only going to limit individual and team success. Even the really demanding clients if you dare to explore your relationship with them in a creative way will offer you great insights to do your job more effectively. Over the years some of my most valuable teachers have been my most difficult clients. If you can get past ego and needing to be right and defending yourself all the time, you will learn a lot from people who are prepared to get in your face and tell you how it is.
This is my last blog for the year. I would like to personally thank everyone for taking the time to read and offer their comments and opinions. I’ll be blogging again early January 2010. Until then, have a safe and merry Christmas and here’s to a BOOMING New Year!
Inspire,
Trent Leyshan
