You’ve just finished your brilliant twenty minute presentation on your new genAI-enabled customer service solution, but the customer’s only question at the end is: “What have you heard about capacitor tariffs?”
What? You may be thinking, “Was this customer paying attention to anything I said? What’s with this orthogonal question?”
But maybe this is the customer’s thought process: ‘We definitely want to deploy this genAI customer service solution, but it requires the latest smart phones. I’ve got 6,000 customer service agents and 80% will need new phones. The real barrier for me is going to be the hardware budget. As far as component tariffs impacting phone prices, I don’t know what’s rumor and what’s real. Maybe these guys know.’
Your customer’s question is a pointer toward his real obstacles.
Try this: “That’s a huge question, Ted. I’m not a tariff expert, but I’ll ping my colleague who is. While she’s on her way over, I’d love to hear your thinking and concerns on this issue.”
If you’re respectful and patient in the way you engage with his question, Ted will likely tell you what he’s thinking. Then you’ll know exactly where you stand on the sale and how best to help Ted in his business.
Questions are just as enlightening when they come from your team, from a podcaster, from an analyst. Treat them as the signals that they are and you’ll become a much better communicator!
Not sure how to crush your next presentation? Navigate tough questions? Need some pragmatic, actionable communications advice? There are tons of resources in poseycorp’s newsletter – subscribe here. Get some skills! Because it’s the great communicators who create the change they want to see in the world!
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