Power plays are destroyers of adult relationships and put people in situations where everybody loses. Creators of power plays assume they can't get something by simply asking for it, so they attempt to put the "opposition" into a subservient role.
Power plays turn into games, which are insincere, manipulative transactions between people. An example of a game is Poor Pitiful Me, where the customer claims great inconvenience or personal trauma over a minor misunderstanding or a fabricated service issue. The customer plays the victim and paints you as the persecutor; his goal may be a release from a contract, a discount in price, or some other compensation. A restaurant owner told me that he's had customers eat half of a sandwich, then claim it wasn't what they ordered and demand compensation for the whole meal. The customer plays victim, but if the owner does not acquiesce to this unreasonable demand, then the customer becomes the persecutor as he gets mad at the new victim - the owner. People playing games constantly switch between roles of victim, persecutor, and rescuer. The ultimate goal of a game player is to avoid responsibility for his own actions or situation.
The best way to handle a game is to get out of it by trying to have an adult-to-adult conversation with your customer. If he will not allow this to occur, then you are ultimately better off not doing business with him. Abrasive personalities and difficult people come with the job, but limit your tolerance for anyone who harasses, belittles, or demeans you. It takes a lot to walk away from a sale, but if it is not to your overall benefit, then have the guts to walk away.
If you want to learn more about transactional analysis in sales either contact me or go to this handy resource - http://www.ta-tutor.com/!dratri/xdrallp.htm.
Happy selling.
(C)Copyright Sandler Sales Institute 2006, excerpted from Sandler's award winning Strategic Sales Management system
Regards
Marcus Cauchi
Managing Director
Sandler Sales Institute® - Licensed Franchisee (London, England)
Guerrilla Marketing® - Licensed Master Practitioners
Mobile +44 (0) 7876 616 983
Tel 0845 458 1237
Sales Training London: Are Your Prospects Playing Games With You - To learn more about this author, visit Marcus Cauchi's Website.
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Marcus Cauchi
(Visit Marcus's Website)
Marcus Cauchi is London's first licensed
Sandler sales trainer. 19 years in direct
sales, he's sold physical products,
services and intangibles with varied
success. Over 16 years he left behind over
£56 million in deals he could have won,
but did because he didn't know any
better. He thought you had to qualify for
needs, present the benefits of your
solution, trial close, follow up with a
proposal or further information and the
close. He learned the hard way that when
you "pitch" a prospect lies to protect
himself. When you present and answer his
questions, he'll steal your ideas. When
you close, he'll mislead you or defer to
a higher authority (boss, wife, CFO) and
then when he's got you to document in
writing (proposals) and give away your
confidential pricing, he'll shop that
around your competitors to get the best
deal. When you follow up for a decision,
he'll give you unlimited access to his
voicemail and hide. Marcus teaches
counter intuitive selling. Average clients
increase revenues by 100-1100% in a year.
He's probably not for you though as it's
difficult and expensive.
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