What Should You Do When Clients Begin Fighting During a Sales Call?

You're on a sales call when the owner and spouse start arguing with each other. What should you do?

Don't take sides, Michael Stone advises in his latest Markup and Profit column. Instead, he says, "You need to listen, observe, and determine the level of disagreement."

Some conflicts are low-level, such as when the customers disagree over where to move the refrigerator but then agree to discuss it later. Let that one stay unresolved, Stone suggests. Things eventually will come around on their own--but if they don't happen by the time needed, the salesperson needs to seek a resolution.

Other conflicts don't end with an agreement to delay a decision but rather turn into confrontations to settle it now--as if that's possible given how tempers have flared. To this, Stone suggests you try to change the subject:

"You need to be on your toes and ask questions that blend with the previous conversation. One phrase that you may find helpful is, "John, if I can change the subject here for a moment, a few minutes ago you said…" Or, "Mary, a thought occurred with what you just said, and it has to do with something we need to talk about anyway, may I ask… "

After the subject is changed, file the disagreement away and work back to it when everyone is calm and back together, Stone says.

Then there's the all-out fight. In that case, it's time to leave, Stone says. "[Do] whatever it takes to get you out the door. If you can, ask them to give you a call when they are ready to move on with the project."

For more advice, visit Stone's column.