“If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.” Zig Ziglar has provided a lot of great tips to business people, but this message might be his most valuable.
We all lose customers to a competitor, sometimes for reasons we find hard to accept. Instead of being angry or hurt, we should take a close look at why the customer switched.
Better, faster, cheaper
There will always be competitors who claim to be better, faster and cheaper calling on your customers. Some of them may succeed. When this happens, take an objective look at why you lost the account. What could you have done differently to keep the customer? Did you take the customer for granted? Remember that your current customers are also your competitor’s prospects.
A good side
There’s a good side to every lost customer, and there’s always another deal on the horizon. Realize that everything is temporary — your profit margin, your territory, and the salespeople, products and companies you compete against. Just because you lost a customer to a competitor today, doesn’t mean the customer won’t buy from you tomorrow.
Failure and disappointment
Try to learn from failure and disappointment. Don’t allow yourself to be defeated by rejection. Salespeople get discouraged and depressed like everyone else, but they quickly bounce back and double their efforts and resolve. No one wants to fail, but high achievers accept failure as part of sales and know there is a lesson to be learned in every setback.
Adapted from: Old School with New Tools, by Tim Brown, who has led sales teams for more than 20 years.
