Who are your best customers or clients? Are they the ones with a flawless history, or did you ever encounter trouble so extreme that you risked losing the account?

Most great clients have had a “moment of truth” some time in the past. A point where you could either lose the account entirely, save it, or perhaps even turn them into raving fans.  

Why do so many companies fail in these moments of truth, and how can you turn a difficult conversation into an opportunity to create a raving fan?

Remember the times you faced a hostile client? What kind of grenades did they throw at you? “Why isn’t this working?” “This doesn’t do what you promised.” “Why can’t you make the deadline?” “If you can’t get this fixed, we’ll find someone who can”.

How about a prospect who machine-guns you with questions?  “Do you have this capability?”, “Do you have that feature?”, “Can you do this integration?” “Do you have that certification?” “How many customers are using this now?”.

It’s only natural to get defensive and try to respond to each and every question and accusation. Sometimes, the more defensive you get, the more aggressive the other party becomes. It’s a subconscious response. Most people respond by falling into a trap I call “Verbal Ping Pong”

Your client asks a question or makes an accusation, and you respond. Back and forth. Again and again and again.

And so on

This type of exchange becomes an emotional roller coaster for you and the customer. Every time you bring them up with a response, they bring you down with another problem. The "Emotional Sine Wave" looks something like this:

There is a surprisingly simple antidote to verbal ping pong. Instead of responding to each question or accusation, just ask,” OK, is there anything else?” Keep doing this without responding until they have exhausted all their ammunition. Take careful notes.

After they have fired all their bullets, you summarize and read back everything they have asked. This demonstrates that are you listening carefully, and ensures you understand clearly all their concerns. The Emotional Sine Wave now looks like this:

The Emotional Sine Wave gets amplified. A lower low and a higher high. As you withstand the verbal assault, the feelings can become deeply negative, and the wave goes way down. The darkness before the dawn.

Still, you will win points by keeping your composure. Once you methodically respond to each point with confidence and assurance, the emotions go the other way. The sine wave now rises sharply to a new high point.

Muhammed Ali used this technique brilliantly when he boxed George Foreman in 1974. He called it the “Rope a Dope” strategy. Ali allowed Foreman to punch away without responding for several rounds. After Foreman exhausted himself, Ali stepped in with his counterattack, knocking out him out in the Eighth Round.

E-Mail Mike with a vexing and perplexing question and you'll get a telling and compelling reply.