DEALING WITH DIFFICULT BUYERS
By Dianna Booher

If not for difficult situations with prospects and buyers, sales professionals would pay their organizations to let them come to work every day! These are the times and types that try men’s and women’s souls. Or, has that already been said? Well, never mind, it’s still true. So anticipate and develop your responses and techniques to handle each situation with finesse and success.

The Recluse

Recluses hide behind their gatekeepers and their voicemail. If your Recluse is a prospect, you may question whether they actually need your solution and have authority to buy. If not, wait until the Recluse reappears in the appropriate buying stage.

The more frustrating experience, however, is having a Recluse for a client—someone who has already signed on the dotted line but with whom you need to interact to implement the sale or service the account.

Tip 1: Send Email or Letters

Recluses generally respond—at their leisure. No matter how busy and what the crisis brewing, with written correspondence via email, letters, or LinkedIn. Recluses can read your full message without interruption, even if at midnight. A written message allows Recluses total control over their time and the interaction, something they demand from all who do business with them.

Tip 2: Leave Complete, Concise Voicemails That Specify Action

Avoid leaving Recluse prospects “teaser” voicemails that aim to elicit callbacks. Leave two or, at most, three voicemails, spread over a couple of months that answer this question very specifically and succinctly: Why should they return your call? What specific value can you give them immediately—a demo, an answer to a question, needed research?