Remember that you are primarily a consultant
From the short term point of view, it might be better not to “dissect” the mistake and let the customer think whatever they want without challenging them and going into details. According to the blog of the HubSpot company, however, this puts you at a certain risk.
Today, a quality salesperson should be above all a consultant. People and customers come to the given individual to receive advice and expert consultations because the salesperson is also an expert in their particular sector and always knows what to advise. You should build such a reputation and maintain it in the long run. One way of doing this when faced with a prospect for whom your product is unsuitable is to turn down the client and offer a totally different solution.
You have a chance to show your expertise
With regard to the above-mentioned requirement of being an expert and giving consultations, the situation in which the client is wrong differs slightly. Here your task is to tell the customer the given matter is a little different, no matter whether this has a positive or negative impact for you.
When communicating with the client and “correcting” them, adhere to these rules:
- Do not use negative expressions. You should not say things like: "You are wrong" or "This is wrong". Rather you should try: "I see you have a generally good idea about how the system works. Just in this case it would be better to say that …"
- Do not make the client feel stupid. Do not laugh or make it clear to the customer they have made a mistake (not even as a joke). Rather you should say that such a thing happens often: "Yes, many people I talk to reach this conclusion. But …"
- Use the client's mistake to your advantage. For instance by saying: "Yes, this is really how it worked before, but we came up with an innovative solution from which our clients benefit."
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