Have you ever had a situation when you were the customer, a problem occurred, stress was running high and the service provider stepped up and solved the problem?
A classic is when you show up at a hotel and they do not have your room reservation, so after a bit of conferencing they not only find you a room but upgrade you for your trouble. We tend to forget they caused the problem in the first place, and remember how they came through for us in the clutch.
We can learn a lot from these kinds of scenarios to apply to the sell side.
Any time our customers’ emotions are running high, we have an opportunity to connect at a much deeper level, and to create a very memorable impression of our goods and services. This includes when we may have made a mistake or perhaps cannot deliver something we promised on time.
Obviously, we do not want to make a habit of it, but problems can also represent important opportunities if we can rise to the occasion and solve them.
The key in such cases is clarity, communication and an obvious show of concern, focus and action.
When emotions are running high, the pros separate themselves from the pack.
I have a daughter who is the best Problem Solver I have ever met. Since she was a child I have seen hear “deal with it”. When she got older I would watch her navigate around problems always staying cool and collective. She moved into the restaurant business during college managing stores, then hiring and managing first time opening stores and now acting as the Operations Manager for a group of stores. A grade school coach recognized her problem solving/leadership skills early on. She went on to be the leader for the three varsity sports she played in High School even though she was not the best player in any of these sports. Senior year she was recognized with the Leadership Award from the largest school district in Illinois (which is voted on by the coaches at all High School district schools) and the United States Marines.
Her greatest skill is that EVERY employee likes, respects and understands her. She lays out her ground rules and mutual expectations in the first meeting and simply expect these rules to be followed. She will go to the wall for her employees in so many ways it could fill a book in itself. She will also fire you faster than you can blink if you steal, cheat, not show up or disrespect another employee. Her employees will literally follow her anywhere and have!
When she sees a problem she handles it. Internally it will frustrate her but you could never tell. Her “calm” sets the tone for addressing the issue. I have learned a lot from her.
From a real estate broker perspective I know that “Every Deal Dies Three Times”. To me, deal problems just mean I am getting closer to getting the deal closed. Getting my CCIM was one of the ways I chose to help myself create better “solutions” for my prospects.
Thank you for your Blog.