March 27, 2026- No matter how skillful your sales presentation is, distribution reps are likely to encounter negative reactions. When dealing with negative attitudes, reps must stay focused on their goal and realize the customers with negative attitudes are not rejecting the rep or their goal. The customer’s negativity is mostly directed at the plan and/or the strategy for achieving the goal.
In other words, they are resisting “it” (the plan/strategy) and not “you” (the rep). If you look at negative attitudes in this manner, you can maintain the confidence necessary to acknowledge the customer’s point of view and align with even the most emotional negative attitudes,
When responding to negative customers, avoid saying “I know how you feel,” “You sound frustrated,” or “You seem skeptical.” Instead, take the “you” out of the response and focus on the issue by using “it.” For example: “that appears to be a problem,” “it can be frustrating,” or “skepticism is perfectly understandable.”
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