What to do when your prospect had a bad experience with your company

Today we’ll share secrets on how to handle the “we once had a bad experience with your company” objection. On rare occasion when prospecting for appointments, you might hear the objection, “I once had a bad experience with your company.” If you hear this particular objection, the way to handle it is to first empathize with the prospect, then talk about how your company has changed since their last experiences.

Now if their bad experience was yesterday, you’re in big trouble, because your company did not change overnight. However, if their bad experience was several years ago, chances are your company has changed since then. And that’s the very reason you should meet: to remedy their bad experience and learn more about how you might be able to do business with them now.

Focus on how your company has changed

Here’s how it might sound to handle this objection:

Prospect: We once had a bad experience with your company a few years back.

Sales Rep: I am so sorry to hear that. You know, we’ve actually changed quite a bit since then. Why don’t I just come by next Thursday at 10:15 to learn more about your company and discuss how we’ve changed in a way that might be of benefit to you?

Handling a bad experience with another sales rep

Another reason the prospect may have had a bad experience with your company is that he or she was mistreated by the salesperson he or she was working with at that time. If that salesperson is no longer with your company, that’s the perfect reason to meet: so you can make up for whatever the original salesperson did wrong at the time. 

Here’s how that might go:

Prospect: We worked with a salesperson from your firm years ago who did a terrible job for us.

Sales Rep: I’m really sorry to hear that. That person is no longer with our company, which is exactly why we should meet! How does Friday at 2:15 work for you?

By first empathizing with the prospect over their bad experience, and then focusing on how your company has changed, you can shift the conversation towards creating a new, better experience. Had a bad experience? Let’s change that, starting now.

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Enjoying these tips from the BlitzMasters Knowledge Center? If your sales team or channel partners are ready to leverage sales expertise and succeed, book a BlitzMasters sales enablement workshop today. BlitzMasters empowers, trains, and facilitates sales reps through call blitzes that gain immediate appointments. Our analytics tracking tool allows both the channel marketer and the channel partner to see performance in real-time, along with detailed reports to show ROI. Contact BlitzMasters today to learn more!