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Tackle the tough ones first              (An article by editor- Jeevey Pakistan)

When I was a child my dentist once told me I had two cavities, One a tiny one and the other quite large. “Which one do you want me to do first?” the dentist asked. I did not hesitate a second. The small one I said. Ok, He replied. We will get the other one next week. That was the longest 7 days I had ever spent. I passed them worrying about my next appearance in the dentist chair. I knew there was a big hole that would require plenty of drilling. By the time of my appointment I was hard to handle, even for an 8 years old kid. The operation hurt but my fear made it even worse. In my later years I remembered that incident and profited from it. I made it a point not to put off unpleasant things, even when it was my natural inclination to do so. I learned that it was better to tackle the tough ones first.

Tough Customer

But it’s not my intention here to tell you my life’s story. The point I am trying to make is that Selling is the profession which involves many decisions similar to the one at my dentist’s. A sales man let’s say has six calls to make a one certain day. Two of the prospects are real tough and have resisted him and others for some time. The other four are easy. What should he do? Take the easy ones and let the tough ones for another day, or meet the problem head-on? In other words , put the toughies right on the top of his calls. By all means he should hit the tough ones first. He may not sell them but even than he will accomplish two important things:

1. Overcome his fear of difficult (Formidable) opposition.

2. Gather information and insight that will enable him to get an order next time.

 And there is another advantage of conducting those calls in morning or any other feasible time which is convenient to that customer, when he is fresh and alert. If prospect is a hard net to crack, the effort than should be made when the salesman is in his top form and best mood. Just get back to the idea of overcoming the fear this is the hang up with many salesmen. They simply can not gear them selves to call on a prospect that will give them a tough time. They either lack confidence in them selves or they imagine that the buyer is tougher than them.

Make tough ones easier

Some people will always be hard to sell. But this does not mean that all of tough ones will stay that way. If a salesman employs the right skills, many of these hard cases may be his easiest targets. So do not fear the tough ones. They may be the best customers you have. Following are some questions which will enable you to analyze that whether you afraid of tough customers or not:

1.        Do you have the habit to call on the difficult Customer first?

2.        Do you put your tough customer on top of your calling list?

3.        Do you believe that Hard Customers can become the easier ones?

4.        Are tough customers usually your better ones?