How do you deal with difficult or demanding potential customers who have complex or unique needs?

The step here is applicable to any type of customer and agree is a great way to start. However, I would say that the first step to deal with a difficult or demanding customer is to start by describing why are you labeling it as difficult or demanding. Usually what is underneath these adjectives signals there is friction between your sales process and customer purchasing process. Then the next step is to assess to what degree can you tailor your sale process (feasible) and how much its going to cost you (viable) and compare it on what’s the size of the opportunity. Also consider what’s the probability to close business by running your process as-is, ideally following the rest of the steps here.

Certainly! When encountering challenging customers with complex requirements, I prioritize active listening, empathy, and collaborative problem-solving. Clear communication, adaptability, and a focus on mutual value are essential. Regular updates and proactive resolution of issues are crucial for building trust and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Listening is key. And try to ask only necessary questions. They may not realize they're being difficult. Or maybe they've had a poor experience and feel justified in their demands. Either way, try to relate and appreciate their point of view. The more you know, the more likely you'll be able to meet their needs. You may also discover what they want you cannot provide and that's okay too.

Great suggestions. I would add this - ask for a "reverse demo". Get them to demo their current processes to you. This hands-on approach helps them feel heard and helps you understand the nuances of their system. THEN visually map out their current state, ideally in a collaborative platform. This representation can be a powerful tool for both you and the customer to understand the pain points more clearly. Quantify the impact: aim to quantify the impact of their current problems. This could be in terms of time, resources, or revenue lost. Value gap: the difference between their current state and desired future state represents the value gap. Your demo and solution should be positioned as the bridge that covers this gap effectively.

It’s also important to understand the customer’s concern as that can help to find the reason why the customer is being challenging during the sales process. The reasons could vary such as bad previous experience of being overpromised but under-delivered, wasted time on listening to sales pitches with no outcomes, unable to get a response in a timely manner and so on. Once the customer’s concern has been understood and properly addressed, it will become much easier to understand their needs and expectations.

In my experience showing empathy goes a long way - Put yourself in the customer's shoes and show empathy towards their situation. - Empathy requires you to understand and share the emotions of the customer, even if sometimes you don't necessarily agree with their perspective.

Handling objections directly can be risky. If the objector holds influence in the buying decision, then a direct contradiction of their view in a large audience setting can cause embarrasment and leave a bad impression. In those cases, I've found it useful to state something like "I'm confident that our solution can address <insert objection>, would you like focus on that now, of should we take a side-bar after the presentation?". This gives them the chance to withdraw the objection and for you to continue with your presentation. You can avoid seeming defensive and make the objector the focus for how the presentation will run.

Avoiding overpromise can sometimes be highly appreciated by customers for expectation management. Some customers may have heard a lot of “our solution can do everything” and lose their trust in anything the sales person says. During the sales process, it’s OK to admit that certain products may not be the best fits for certain scenarios.

Often in presales, we are proposing solutions that will displace something that the prospect is doing today. For example, replacing a legacy system with new software. The prospects in those scenarios are conditioned to think about the possibilities that existed in their 'old' system and often don't realise that contemporary systems can offer more. Those 'new' ways of doing things can be tremendously insightful and tip the favour in your balance. Just be careful you are addressing the prospect's needs, or you risk overselling, which can stall buying decision as the buyer reconsiders what they need.

Delivering value and insights relies on clearly understanding the customer needs. Case studies sometimes can be a good way to demonstrate how to deliver what the customer needs and meet their goals.

Presentations should always, always be customized. If you are presenting a corporate or boilerplate deck, then your competitors already have the edge. With difficult stakeholders, I find that injecting examples and references to their specific concerns or objections can be very powerful. In step 1 you listened to their needs and goals, then in your presentation you have the chance to directly address those. Something like: "Hey <objector name>, earlier you told me that <paraphrase the need>, well let me show you how we solve that". Then show them the solution.

Building and establishing trust with your customer is arguably the most important foundational step. Your potential customers are people representing a company and their values. People buy products and solutions from people they trust so it’s important establish yourself as a trusted advisor aligned with their values before advancing the sales process. Once you have established trust it will open up a bidirectional line of communication where you can ask the right questions to discover their needs, challenges, and requirements. Be an active listener in order to map your solution’s capabilities to their needs. Be cognizant of your competitors because customers often develop demands/expectations based on previous experiences.

Following up with the 'difficult stakeholder' (assuming an individual or group) after the presentation or meeting, is a good way to do this. Check if what you presented made sense to them. Does it solve their problem? Just asking some questions after the presentation will give you a connection. You may find out that it hit the mark, or you may need to do more and the follow up will tell you what that 'more' is.

Are their expectations unrealistic, or are you talking at a different frequency? I took negotiation skills training from a former FBI hostage negotiator and he asked how many of you think your customers are unreasonable and unrealistic in their demands. Few of the audience members raised their hands. He then responded that I have been in several hostage situations where the criminal asked for something outrageous, or else they would harm the hostage. Then he asked how many of you still think your customers have unreasonable demands. Discuss the "why behind the why" with the customer. Unraveling the main reason is THE pre-sales skill. Once you unlock the reason, you can overcome the "unrealistic" and demanding expectations.