Got absolutely bitched out by a prospect today and am curious if they have any semblance of a point.
We spoke in October regarding a $7-$10k deal. Very average for my team. Got along swimmingly, its Friday, she tells me she is the DM and is moving forward but needs the weekend to decide what package.
Over the past 3 weeks she has ghosted me and I have no idea what happened. Okay, that happens no biggie. I call today and she picks up and I ask what happened and if anything has changed. "Oh no Former Startup Job Hopper I'm sorry I've just been slammed".
I ask what she needs from us to make a decision. She said she needs a few days to "look over the proposal". Keep in mind I kept it short and sweet with this lady and sent a brochure and 3 different pricing bands based on volumes. That's it.
My style is very assertive but I don't feel I'm impolite. Here is where shit goes down. I pause for a moment and say "respectfully madam customer, is there a reason it should be more complex to than you sitting down for 15 minutes to review the quote and deciding what package? Why does it have to take a week?" This is where she freaks out. Tells me how incredibly rude that was, that she did sales for years and would never ask that, that i need to work on my emotional intelligence, etc.
I backtrack a bit but not much and say something to the extent of "we'll agree to disagree" and she freaks out further. I backtrack a bit further and say "look, maybe that came out different than I meant it. Part of my job is to ask the tough questions but I'm sorry for upsetting you". Ultimately I say "look this call isn't going well so I'm going to stop digging a further hole but if I'm hearing you right you're still interested?" She says yes and we hang up.
I strongly believe I did very little wrong other than maybe misreading a fellow assertive sales person who had a day. Am I wrong?
EDIT
I appreciate the feedback guys and agree now that I think about it that I mishandled this one. I'm not convinced I'm wrong that she is bullshitting me, but there's an extent to which that doesn't matter and I have to play the game.
Looking back, "agree to disagree" on her getting upset was asking for it.
There's a part of me that wants to still defend what I said in that she should have thicker skin than to have such a hot reaction to that question. I truly believe that I would not balk at a sales rep asking me that in a buying situation. But I'm a blunt person. I can't always be so blunt and expect it to work with different personalities. I guess I am saying I still feel she overreacted, but I should have known better. The goal isn't to catch them in a lie its to close the deal.
I guess where I struggle is this. We get shitloads of tire-kickers and unqualified people. Are you all saying you can't push back on timeline? I understand she doesn't care about my timeline, but a key component of my job is keeping deals short and not living in the land of maybe.
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