Have you ever raised, or taken part in raising, a “strong-willed” child?  You know the one that always goes left when you say say right and up when you say down.  Well this morning I am not going to talk about children, but customers (who, frankly, often behave as children)…and it seems that 99.99% of them fit into the “strong-willed” category.  I have heard it said that customers want to buy, but loathe to be sold.  They usually recoil, or rebel, at the attempt.  It seems the easy part about business is matching a need with a product, or a service, that will supply it, but then the hard part is that psychological element of convincing those strong-willed customers that you are the best alternative.  Usually you can’t just tell them that, since (1) they won’t believe you and (2) it probably isn’t true in the first place.  No there is some other element at work here.  I believe that is where “artistry” in business, or in sales, must come into play.  Where building rapport matters, because customers want to buy from someone they feel good buying from, someone they like, someone they trust.  So how do you “pull that off?”  Well get the notion of pulling it off out of your head.  It can’t be done that way.  They will see right through any attempts to manipulate.  I believe it is in giving away your art, something that really they can’t afford to pay for anyway.  Like your wisdom and knowledge borne from years of experience and hard knocks.  With Package Costa Rica, the Costa Rica vacation designer and manager, we often find ourselves in a virtual bidding war with some cut rate travel agency in the U.S., trying to sell Costa Rica hotel rooms at incredibly cheap prices.  If that’s all the customer is looking for, i.e., a cheap room, then we lose.  But if they want something money really can’t buy and something which we joyfully give away, i.e., our deep knowledge and love for this country and heartfelt desire for others to have an incredible experience of it, then maybe we can win.  I guess solving the problem of the strong willed customer comes in knowing your customer first, and then giving away the time and effort to demonstrate that you really care.  And finally delivering on that promise so that they become raving fans.

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