{"id":1062,"date":"2007-07-11T11:22:36","date_gmt":"2007-07-11T16:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/07\/take-the-blame-diffuse-the-situation\/"},"modified":"2007-07-11T11:22:37","modified_gmt":"2007-07-11T16:22:37","slug":"take-the-blame-diffuse-the-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/07\/take-the-blame-diffuse-the-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Take The Blame – Diffuse The Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sprint decision to part ways with its overly demanding customers is making news all around the web and rightly so. I truly enjoyed the story – you can read it here<\/a> if you missed it. The best line from the letter Sprint sent out to these customers (my emphasis):<\/p>\n

\n
“While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs<\/em>,” the letters said.<\/p>\n
The customers were told their service agreements were being terminated, they wouldn’t owe anything on their final bill, and the company would waive early termination fees. They also were told to switch to another wireless provider by July 30 if they want to keep their phone number.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Later on in the article, there is one very crucial piece of information regarding Sprint’s decision regarding these customers:<\/p>\n
\n
Singleton said the targeted subscribers each made an average of 40 to 50 calls a month<\/strong> to customer service.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Back to the letter – the technique used in Sprint’s letter is excellent and one we subscribe to also. Essentially, Sprint is falling on their sword. They are clearly stating they are not a good fit for these specific high-maintenance customers. The obvious issue is that there probably isn’t a single wireless phone company that is capable of meeting these extraordinary customer service needs.<\/p>\n
They used a softened method of ending the customer relationship. It’s blunt, accurate and disarming. If ever you need to get clarity from a demanding prospect, this technique is extremely effective. The threat that you may go away usually gets a stalled discussion moving towards a conclusion – one way or another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sprint decision to part ways with its overly demanding customers is making news all around the web and rightly so. I truly enjoyed the story – you can read it here if you missed it. The best line from the letter Sprint sent out to these customers (my emphasis): “While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs,” the letters said. The customers were told their service agreements were being terminated, they wouldn’t owe anything… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-techniques"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-h8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1896,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/02\/never-out-of-office\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":0},"title":"Never Out Of Office","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m traveling to Palm Springs, CA today for a trade show.\u00a0 Let me just say that a California trade show is a blessed thing to a Minnesotan in February.\u00a0 Anyway, I didn\u2019t put an email message saying I will be out of the office. Why even use that feature in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1032,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/customers-dont-walk\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":1},"title":"Customers Don’t Walk","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an urban legend we encounter frequently in our sales hiring activities - customers don't walk with the salesperson.\u00a0 What I mean is customers rarely follow a salesperson to a new company.\u00a0 If the salesperson quits one company and goes to a competitor, it is a rare occurrence in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/windowslivewritercustomersdontwalk-76b3dont-walk-sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2092,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/08\/should-you-involve-customers-in-hiring\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":2},"title":"Should You Involve Customers In Hiring?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Quite the question, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0 That is the title of this article from Selling Power.\u00a0 I have to confess I was perplexed by the entire thought \u2013 how would you as the hiring manager benefit from having your customer help you hire the salesperson?\u00a0 I see nothing but pitfalls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":476,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/12\/customer-retention-rate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":3},"title":"Customer Retention Rate","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"December 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Starbucks card brings sales reward caught my eye first because I have a tremendous coffee addiction and read almost any article I find regarding coffee shops. 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