If you just accept what the customer says you aren’t adding value. Challenge the customer. Push back. Respectfully.
Let’s unpack that.
Challenge the customer: being agreeable isn’t the same as being useful
“I want a drill.” “Sure, here.”
“Jaza tank” “Sawa, nifungulie.”
“I want a Money Market Fund.” “Sure, fill out these forms.”
Yes, I know what you are thinking. These are open and shut closes and you could be right. But let’s scratch the surface some.
”I want a discount.” So you discount.
“I’ll think about it.” So you say, “Sure. Take your time.” And then they leave.
You have been agreeable. But were you useful? There is a difference.
Your customer doesn’t always know what they need
Your customer knows what they want. Or at least they think they do. Your job is not merely to take the order. Your job is to help them make a better decision.
That means you sometimes have to challenge the customer.
Challenge the customer
Let’s try again. “I want a drill”
“May I ask what you need if for so I can give you options to look at?”
And turns out, they just wanted to hang a picture and you end up selling stick-on hooks in colours that complement those of his walls.
Sometimes one question prevents a big problem
“Jaza tank.”
“Gari hii kuna ya petrol na diesel. Yako inakunywa ipi?”
The customer does a double take. “Haya. I forgot to say. Thanks for asking. It’s diesel.”
And just like that you avoid what could have been a costly mistake, draining the wrong fuel, flushing the system, appeasing an infuriated customer, refilling the tank for free and managing expectations.
You added value simply because you were willing to challenge the customer rather than blindly follow the instruction.
Challenge the customer: don’t assume you know what they want
“I want a Money Market Fund.”
“No problem. Tell me what you like about our MMF?”
Turns out it’s not an MMF he wanted but a Special Fund – and not yours.
Read: Send your buyer to the competition and sell more
In all instances, you have added value by challenging, pushing back. You are investigating the decision. And that is where good selling begins.
Sometimes the customer is wrong
Sometimes that means telling them they are wrong. Not rudely. Not arrogantly. And certainly not with that irritating salesperson tone that says, “I know better than you.”
“Please listen to the little I know,” the dentist told the exasperated parent, much to the parent’s chagrin.
He had brought his son to have the pain in his teeth examined, yet instead of listening to the dentist’s assessment, he kept insisting on what he thought the problem was and how it should be treated.
The dentist finally had to push back. Not because he wanted to win an argument with the parent. Because he knew something the parent didn’t.
And sometimes, that is precisely what your customer needs from you.
The customer isn’t always the expert
“Hivyo unataka nitatue hiyo shida siezi kubali. Hiyo shock unasikia ukishower, shida haiko kwa instant shower kama unavyosema. Ni earthing. Kama hutaki nitatue ninavyojua tuwache tu. Vile unasema unaeza tatua, nyumba na uamuzi ni wako.”
And so the potential buyer is left to choose between his solution, the electrician’s and the live possibility of electrocution if the problem is not urgently resolved.
The point is not that the electrician should argue with the customer. The point is that he shouldn’t simply agree with him either. Challenge the customer—but do it because you have something useful to contribute..
Customers are experts in their problems. They are not necessarily experts in your solution.
Diagnose before you prescribe
A customer buying a car may tell you, “I need an SUV.” Fine.
But why?
Maybe they think an SUV is necessary because they have three children. Perhaps it is. Or perhaps what they really need is more boot space, better ground clearance and comfortable seating.
Those are not necessarily the same thing. If you simply show them SUVs, you may be selling them what they asked for.
If you investigate, you might sell them what they actually need.
Push back without picking a fight
See the difference? The first instance takes an order. The second diagnoses.
There is a fine line here. Challenging the customer does not mean arguing with them. Nobody likes a salesperson who turns every conversation into a debate.
Your objective is not to win the argument. It is to improve the decision.
So instead of saying: “You don’t need that.”
Try: “Help me understand why you think you need that.”
Instead of: “That option is a waste of money.”
Try: “What are you expecting that option to give you?”
Instead of: “You are making the wrong choice.”
Try: “Can I challenge that for a moment?”
That little phrase can change the conversation.
Because you have asked for permission to challenge their thinking rather than simply attacking it.
And that is the difference between challenging the customer and fighting with the customer.
Agreeable salespeople can be expensive
Agreeable salespeople may feel good to customers. But sometimes they are expensive.
The salesperson who says yes to everything may close the occasional sale, but they miss opportunities to create value and get the sale to survive the close.
A customer says, “Your competitor is cheaper,” you reply with “Yes, we can reduce the price.”
Why?
Did you establish whether price was actually the problem?
Challenge the customer: you are not a human order form
Effective salespeople are not human order forms. They are professional challengers.
So ask another question. Offer another perspective. Show them something they hadn’t considered.
Because if all you do is agree with the customer, what exactly are you being paid for?
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