Save Yourself Some Time, "Go Negative"

I was on the phone the other day with a brand new tenant buyer that is moving into one of our properties. She was calling again to complain about some repair work that was not done to her satisfaction and her general dissatisfaction with her experience with our company so far. As I was explaining to her that the house was not brand new and that what she wanted was not on our scope of work, I realized I had a perfect opportunity to "go negative."

I interrupted her rant and said, "You know what, if you are this upset with the way we do business and the condition of the house, we should part ways and not do business together. We want the people that we work with to be raving fans. We will gladly refund your money."

It is amazing how this simple technique will immediately separate the people you want to work with from (as Dan Kennedy would say) the time vampires. She quickly retorted, "Well, these are very minor details that we can work out..."

I was able to diffuse her attack by "going negative." It may sound counter intuitive, but trust me, it works! The people that part ways are nothing more than time vampires disguised as potential clients. You just saved yourself some time.