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Guest post by: Marshall W. Northcott Become an Author

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It is very common for people working in a sales role to face conflict as part of their routine. It only makes sense that the more customers that you work with and the busier that your schedule is, the higher the frequency of challenging and difficult people and situations that you will face. Here are some key points to keep in mind and characteristics to strengthen in order to maximum your ability to cope and also resolve these situations and have a higher number of satisfied clients.

1) Control your emotions and remain calm.

2) Cushion, show empathy and/or apologize in order to diffuse customer hostility or frustration.

3) Express genuine concern and the desire to better understand and resolve the matter. Express shock or surprise if you were unaware of the situation. Thank them for drawing the matter to your attention. Let them know of your desire to resolve the issue. Ask them if they would be willing to discuss it further and provide you with details regarding the situation.

4) In a sensitive manner, ask for an explanation, work towards gaining their perspective, feelings about the situation and the facts regarding the issue. Use open-ended questions to get them to open up and provide as much detail as possible.

5) Listen and apply needs assessment and questioning skills. Paraphrase, confirm, expand, acknowledge and gain a full understanding. Also pay attention, use your observations skills to read between the lines and pick up on hidden meanings and innuendo.

6) Isolate the problem(s), ask if there is anything else. Repeat the process outlined above until you have all the concerns, emotions, perspectives and facts out on the table.

7) Summarize and recap your understanding of what you have learned. Separate the primary source (root cause) of conflict when secondary issues are present. Secondary matters will often automatically be resolved by rectifying the primary concern. Gain acknowledgment of your assessment to ensure that you have clearly understood the matter and that you are on the same page as the customer.

8) If there is a legitimate, justifiable explanation then offer the explanation, answer, address or even hypothesize to help the them better understand. Do not make excuses, direct blame or deflect responsibility. Ask for acceptance or acknowledgement of your explanation and whether or not this resolves the matter. Sometimes when you talk it out with people in this manner they realize that it isn't as bad as they initially thought (blew it out of proportion) or that they had some degree of fault in the situation. Once you have explained, confirm that the matter is resolved to the customer's satisfaction or closed.

9) If you are unable to resolve up to this point, then ask, within reason, what they would like to have done to resolve the matter. Gain a very clear understanding of what they are asking for before agreeing to anything.

10)

a. Resolve the conflict if the customer request is reasonable or acceptable. You may still have to apply some negotiation tactics to ensure that you don't leave the door open for them to ask for more.

b. Negotiate if possible, if necessary or if you are able to. This would apply if the customer is asking for more than what is considered to be reasonable or acceptable.

c. Bow out if necessary.

For most people, resolving conflict doesn't come naturally, it is something that they must work at and therefore, put the skills and techniques into practice before mastering them. Be patient as you go through the learning process and give yourself time to evolve. It's not uncommon to make a few mistakes as you go. Eventually you will be able to handle the most difficult and challenging conflict situations with grace and excellence.

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