Handling customer fears

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Dealing with

Ashraf Osman

Sales Effectiveness Consultant

Differentiation among competitors

• Fear affects the way customers differentiate among competitors:

– Fear of

– Fear of

– Fear of

– Fear of

Author: Ashraf Osman

Fear of change

• New solution will disrupt the way they do business.

• Even if the solution is cheaper , manageable, efficient, still it is a change.

• Consequences of change could be :

– Loss of authority.

– Loss of job.

– Change of job.

– etc..


Fear of conflict

• New solution might induce conflicts.

• Conflict can be Inter-department or intra-department.

• Conflict with their own customers.

• Conflict with suppliers.


Fear of work

• Customers are afraid of the additional work that your solution might induce.

• Current work methods will change; that’s additional work!

• “I used to send an email, now I have to fill 3 forms”.

• “Where am I in the new system?”

• “How long will it be before we go home on time?”

• “Executives are involved, the new system delivers more capabilities which is more workload for us”


Fear of failure

• What if we fail?

• Bad publicity internal and external, social media, customer/ constituents rage.


Customer reaction to fear of change

• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one hour to your facility

• Customer response :

I am not sure we are equipped to handle such a fast delivery , our warehouses have a wok process that we

should follow


Fear of conflict

• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one hour to your facility


We cannot ask all our suppliers to speed up delivery just to keep up with you.


Fear of work

• Your feature : we can have your project fully implemented in 6 months or less.


That’s too quick, it means we have to start training our Technical staff to support the new technology and print

relevant forms in short time


Fear of failure

• Your feature : we will reduce your cost year after year


Will you be able to maintain quality year after year ?


Fear of All

• Your feature : We will fully revolutionize & automate your operation using latest IT system

Fear of Change We can not have that , too much change at the same time !

Fear of conflict Will this mean our IT people will get paid at a higher rate than other departments?

Fear of work How many other systems we will have to change if the IT systems changes ?

Fear of failure What if it doesn’t work , that’s a big risk !


Fear fighters

• Emphasize what will NOT change.

• Make certain your customer clearly understands which of its many systems will not change as a result of doing business with you.


Fear fighters

• People : not CV’s but Bio’s that include what customers want

to hear. Resources experience and knowledge pertinent to customer’s project.

• Process : how you implemented before and how will you

implement this one.

• Technology: your unique technology advantage.

• Experience: Prior experience & accumulated knowledge.


Handling fear of change

• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one

hour to your facility

I am not sure we are equipped to handle such a fast delivery , our warehouses have a wok process that we should follow

You control delivery day and time , but if you have an emergency we can deliver the parts in as little as one

hour


Handling fear of conflict

• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one

hour to your facility

We cannot ask all our suppliers to speed up delivery just to keep up with you.

You control delivery day and time , but if you have an emergency we can deliver the parts in as little as one

hour


Handling fear of work

• Your feature : we can have your project fully implemented

in 6 months or less

That’s too quick, it means we have to start training our techies to support the new technology and print relevant forms in short

time

We have developed a step-by-step transition map and we will deliver the needed training to your employees


Handling fear of failure

• Your feature : we will reduce your cost year after year

will you be able to maintain quality year after year ?

Once we have the system up and running, the cost will reduce each year while we continue to deliver the same

results


The 90%-10% rule

90% of your competitors will talk about :

• History and background.

• Company stability.

• Commitment to the project.

• Belief in your company.

• Basic price structure.

• Emphasis on quality.

• Well-qualified staff.

• Latest technology.

• Flexibility.

• Modern facilities.

• Dedication to customer satisfaction.


Find out your 10% advantage

• Take away the fears (change, conflict, work, and failure) using the fear fighters (people, process, technology, and experience)

• Your advantage is superiority & uniqueness.

• You should have at least 3 advantages that affect performance.

• Tie these three claims to money, time & risk. This is your 10% advantage


Business

Handling customer fears