Did we do something wrong?

Of course not, it is a well-known fact that for someone to win a contract, another has to lose, but that doesn't always mean the end of a relationship. Some of our best customers have chosen to use our services because of the way we conducted ourselves when they chose a competitor.

We've all been there, maybe we carried out many hours of research on behalf of our customer, provided information and recommendations, held meetings and demonstrations, and perhaps customer trials, only to hear those words, sorry we chose another solution.

Of course, these are words that no salesperson wants to hear, particularly when we are confident that the customer are choosing a solution that don't deliver what they need to the the same standard as yours. But of course, that is what we all believe, or we wouldn't be serving our customers well if we didn't have total belief in our product and a passion for our service.

Rather than let this highly charged and emotional (if you are passionate about your role) moment define your next phone call, or your next customer visit, or the general mood you exude, believe that this moment can provide the best source of education within a successful thriving business.

A salesperson with a high level of self-importance will often cut ties and move on swiftly to the next customer, a smarter way to learn is to ask yourself, What didn't I know that my competitor knew? What didn't I do that my competitor did? "What can I read to understand more?" Better still, ask your prospective customer "What motivated you to purchase from X Supplier?", "How did the Solution you chose compare with ours?" If the customer chose an alternative product due to a lower cost, did you really know enough about the customer before you embarked on your journey? Were they really the right customer to gain value from using your products within your price bracket. "You're never going to sell a 2 seater sports car to a family of 5, looking to explore the countryside by car, in the same way you'll never sell a ski-ing holiday to somebody looking for a bit of winter sun"

It is a well known fact that customers will often make their decision based on the emotional experience, and the price can sometimes be used as an 'easy reason' for choosing elsewhere. If you have understood your customer from the outset, you will have knowledge of the budget they are working within early on in the sales process before embarking on your journey, and therefore, it goes back to the above questions and finding out what we didn't understand to meet their objectives.

Successful salespeople will know all of the above, but what prompted me to write this article is during a team meeting with our sales team, we noticed how many customers come back to us! And how our sales process has certainly been influenced from valued current customers, whom we had previously lost, but whom would currently not consider another supplier for their services, and we thank them for not only their customer, but for teaching us valuable lessons (and a fantastic business coach).

When our prospective customer finds that they've outgrown the solution they purchased, or that the service hasn't matched their expectations, or the product hasn't delivered what was promised, they know that we will never say 'I told you so', but rather thank them for the opportunity, and say of course I'd love to help, now what can I learn about you, that I didn't understand last time?

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