How to Deal with Angry Prospects

Have you ever called on a prospect who was not delighted to hear from you? We all have, and most salespeople get uncomfortable when they’re dealing with an angry or disgruntled prospect.

Nevertheless, an angry prospect can be your best prospect. Often, people don’t realize that really positive prospect can be more dangerous in a selling situation they often have an agenda.

However, the angry prospect never has a specific agenda. If you can turn this type around, they can become among your best prospects.

Three Tips for Handling Angry Prospects

#1. Don’t get fazed. When you come across an angry prospect, it’s time to be totally unemotional in dealing with that person. For instance, if over the phone they sound angry or exasperated, do not speed up your script. Stay in your groove and remain unemotional.

#2. If all else fails, rise to their level. If your prospect sounds angry on the phone, or is irate during a face-to-face interaction, and becoming mellowed out doesn’t seem imminent, it’s time to rise to their
level.

If they get loud, you get loud. If they sound frustrated, then you sound a little frustrated. People connect with people who appear similar to themselves. So rise to their level. Often, this approach will diffuse their frustrated or angry manner.

#3. Get them talking ASAP. A prospect is going to have a very hard time hanging up on you if they’re doing more of the talking. So the goal of any sales interaction and specifically when dealing with an angry prospect is to get that individual talking as promptly as possible.

Ask provocative questions that will entice them into talking about their business or about their situation.

By getting the prospect talking as quickly as possible you are going to diffuse their frustration and ultimately convert them from being an angry prospect to being an open prospect. And finally, the goal is to convert an open prospect to a qualified prospect.

By applying these three simple tips, you can turn those angry prospects into reasonable and potentially valuable prospects. Remember: Do not be afraid of angry prospects. They have a million things going on and they are not mad at you. It is your job to change their state of mind. Which of these tips is most useful to your selling? Please share below in the comments.