Pleasing The Customer Without Promising The World

Customer's can often be very demanding. They ask for the impossible, change their mind, and can just seem to be acting irrationally. When you know your right and the customer is off their rocker, you can not just say "your wrong". Any time a conversation turns into a battle, you will find that nothing productive will result from it. The key to successfully negotiating with the customer is to keep your cool and spend more time listening than talking.

Try to remember that you are often a customer too. When you go to the store and demand they reconcile the mistake they made, you do not want to hear that you're wrong or that they can't do something. Instead, you want to have them bend over backwards to make you happy. However, when your on the receiving end of things, it is not very exciting. As simple as it sounds, putting yourself in your customer shoes is really the best way to negotiate. When you completely understand what the customer wants and make the customer feel as if you know their position, you have a better chance of finding a solution which makes them happy.

So how can you convince the customer to change without saying it? First, don't enter the conversation with the mentality that you are right and they are wrong. You will inevitably appear aggressive causing the customer to become defensive and not open to any of your ideas. Instead, if you reach a point of difference, ask questions about why the customer wants something a certain way. As you probe around these details you can work suggestions in which complement a customer's needs and still remain true to your perspective. You probably won't get exactly what you were thinking but the concessions you make will not cause major chaos. This process certainly takes longer than just outright stating your position and arguing over it. However, you will probably gain more using the strategy described above and make the customer feel like they got what they wanted from the deal.

The more often you handle these situations, the better you get at saying just the right things to gently nudge the customer in the direction you want. Some people are just naturally capable and learn quickly. However, it is something that everyone can learn and will inevitably improve your relationship with your customers.