I am Yoshida, president of Yamada Shusei Ltd., a professional apparel clothing repair group in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture.
Today, I would like to talk about a common story in sales regarding "fix-it, don't-fix-it."
When I was just starting out in sales, I once had an argument on the phone with a client who kept repeating trials with the same product, despite the fact that I was checking the grade while looking at the product together in front of him and telling him the working limits. I told the client in an excited tone, "I told you from the beginning that this is only a working best, because it is not a clean fix! I said to him.
At the time, I did not fully understand that "physically fixing" and "being able to deliver" are not the same thing!
The "fixable or not fixable" and the "deliverable or not deliverable" are not necessarily equal. This is because it is ultimately the client who has the "right to determine the acceptable range," not the client.
Therefore, repeating a trial over and over again means that the client is in a high degree of trouble because he/she is unable to obtain the client's approval. In other words, the client is desperately negotiating with the client to deliver.
What can I do as a salesperson for such a client?
I now think of it this way:
"I don't want to be in a confrontation with the client, arguing about whether or not the problem can be fixed, but rather, I want to be a partner with the client in the difficult situation and find out what I can do to get closer to delivery.”
