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Answer: "The reason we're asking you to go to a supervisor for approval is that this brief delay of even 15 seconds while you leave the customer alone at the counter allows time for . . ." |
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Don't let the offensive, negative words hook you into responding negatively to an important issue. Neutralize, neutralize. |
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Tip 523: Turn a negative question into a benefit statement. |
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A customer asks, "Why do you have so much red tape associated with these service agreements?" "Benefit" answer: "Why does having a list of all the company liaisons benefit you? Well, let's say Kathy in your word processing department calls for service. Within seconds, we can check the file, verify her as an authorized contact, and answer her question while she's on the linewithout waiting for a callback. Your doing the paperwork up front in providing us names of liaisons saves you time when you have a problem and need service immediately." |
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Tip 524: Challenge questions based on misinformation or invalid assumptions. |
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Question: "Given the huge sums of money we've spent on market and trend studies in recent years, why haven't our earnings matched those of other investors on real estate in the local area?" That question contains four assumptions that may or may not be true: |
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1. The company has spent "huge" sums of money. |
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2. The market and trend studies contained accurate and helpful information. |
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3. The company's earnings did not match those of other investors. |
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4. The other investors presented accurate numbers and those numbers were based only on real estate investments in the local area. |
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With such a question, you can either accept, qualify, or reject any of the assumptions or facts, then answer the "leftover" question if you care to do so. Answer: "First, I don't consider $4000 'huge sums of money.' Second, those studies were based on old information and did not contain much with regard to our industry. Third, you're correct in that our earnings were one percentage point lower than our competitors' earnings. And, finally, |
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