Can you turn around an angry person

I understand both Jason and Ken's points. Both are valid.

Personally...20 seconds in? maybe I'd let him go.

BUT. I can tell you with absolute certainty that if you ride this guy out, and let him rant, and go over to his side.....there is a good chance that you will convert him.

People who are angry are not evil. They are feeling attacked, in pain.

Picture a gauge with a needle pointing way to the left saying "Angry" at the other end of the gauge it says "Best friend".

Once you start moving that needle toward "Best friend" momentum takes over.

Once the anger is subsiding, there is a rush of endorphin to the prospect's brain. Really, they are much easier to sell than someone unemotionally involved.

And anger is emotional involvement.

But.You only invested 20 seconds...and there is a difference between being angry and being a moron. I wasn't on the phone with the guy, but 20 seconds into a cold call? I think I'd let him go. An in person meeting (where I have a little more invested) I might give it a shot.

An angry person coming into my retail store? I can nearly always turn them around. But I'm there anyway, and there is always a sale at the end of that story.

added later: I posted this before John gave his response. I certainly can't argue with it. Maybe the best response. OK, now you have three great ideas.

or you can be like me, Personally depending on my mood
and how in the groove i was feeling at the moment.

I am known for being an ass. AND it works in situations like these.

But you need some real marbles and conviction to pull it off.

"of course i am here to f*ck you over, its my JOB."

If they don't hang up... and they usually wont... what they do, do is stop talking.

now you can say ...

Come on bob, you know i am just teasing you, If you give me a minute
you will see i am actually going to help you ....

There is a certain personality type who will love that response... You better be good at reading people to pull it off though!


Me too probably, but also those types can like you because you calm them down...they know they're an A$$hole, and they value anyone who can deal with them, and still like them.

I had one boss who liked me just because I didnt flinch at the fact that he was a jerk. i was one of the few people in his circle who could overlook it and say "Ah, you didnt mean any harm Bob" (His name was really Bob).

Edit:

Bob: Was I too rough on em?

Me: Naw... They understand you. These people love you man.

I'm with Jason Kanigan on this.

However, I expect this happened as a result of a COLD call..?
Something that I never ever do, I quickly learned this in my offline career, total waste of time - compared to sending a direct mail letter and following up with a warm call...

Having sent many direct mail letters I HAVEN'T had this experience (angry person)...yet when following up with a call - if I EVER do experience this, I'll simply hang up. And move on to the next prospect - as has been said by one off the posters here, life is just too SHORT.
Besides why bother with a potential future client that can turn angry on a whim...when there are PLENTY of NICE Fish out there...to have as clients...

Actually, if you're going to turn him around, that's when you want him to be angry. 20 minutes into a pitch, it's much harder to turn them around.
Why? Because they are mad at you...and they already know you (meaning your pitch) well enough for that anger to have some teeth.

At the close is the worst time for them to flare up.

If you meant that you simply wouldn't want to pursue a person that gets angry that easy. I get it. But almost everyone I know has told me a story about some evil salesperson...and I instantly take the salesperson's side (at least privately).

Yelling at a salesperson you don't even know is a way for powerless people to feel a little power. I usually let them get their fix. It just becomes my first sales step.

That's nearly always my response, especially in person. After their adrenalin rush calms down, they are usually open to what you have to say. They just want someone to tell their story to.


Bob: I see your logic, but I think you give people too much credit. Most people aren't savvy enough to test salespeople to see if they are scammers. The idea never occurs to them. Your idea is too complicated for most people.

Everyone likes to tell stories. Everyone has a story of at least one time they were scammed by a salesman, and every man I know has a story about the time they bodily threw a salesman out their door, or threw them out of their store.

Of course, It's never happened to me..and I've done well over 10,000 in home presentations. So....it's a myth. A lie.

So why do these people tell these lies? Because everyone wants to be either the hero or the victim of their story. So they were either ripped off, or they physically threw out a salesman.
If the story is going to be about themselves, how else are they going to be the star?

People yell at you or accuse you of something (at least in the very beginning) because that's they way they habitually deal with telemarketers.

Some people yell at telemarketers on the phone. I hang up. Some listen and can't say "No". Some (like my wife) will politely say "I'm not really interested" until the telemarketer dies from exhaustion. She just doesn't have it in her to be rude or abrupt with people. I do.

Most people that yell...it's simply a weak defense. Like a dog that growls.
After three seconds of petting them, they are your friend for life...and they will growl at the next stranger. It's just what they do. And it's just what some prospects do.

In fact, when I was selling in people's homes, my selling sequence started with;
1) They let me in and pretend that the man at the office (It's always me, they just don't know that) didn't tell them their was a product demonstration. They were just getting a gift.
2) I apologized for the mistake we made, and gave them the gift, and sat down to ask a few questions.
3) They would then say that there was not a chance in the world they were going to buy anything, but since I was already there...and such a nice gentleman (not like that guy at the office).....

And so it went. These were just steps in the sale to me. It was a dance, a stage play. We all had to play our part. And in the end, they would usually buy. And a week later they were telling their next door neighbor how they took advantage of me and got a great deal,. If they didn't buy (but I always left them shaking my hand) a week later they were telling their neighbor how they threw me out and I tried to rip them off.

I've even been told that by people who didn't know I was the salesman that saw them a few months before. Usually I would let it slide. Why not give them their moment in the spotlight?

We are all governed by habits, impulses, needs that are simple and predictable. Almost nobody makes a study of them.

We are all puppets. A few of us can see the strings.

Added the next day; It was very late when I posted this. As I read it now, it's a little too revealing.
But David Miller gave me a Thanks...so I'll leave it up.

Great point Bob

Before becoming an internet marketer I had a job working in a complaints department. What most angry people want is for you to calmly listen, ocassionally repeating back to them certain parts of what they have said so they know you are listening, and try to put yourself in their shoes when you respond.

Bob's response of "No, did someone screw you over Jim? What happened?" is perfect, since almost everyone wants to have their story heard. I do not rile them up more, but find that just by listening you already start gaining their trust. You can always share an anocdote if you have been through a similar experience... and really, you WILL have been screwed over by someone, whether that was a telemarketer, a contractor, employee, boss, there is always something.

The catch with this method is that you absolutely MUST be calling someone that you know would be interested in your product. This is fairly time consuming, and if they are not the decision maker, or if they really don't want/need what you are selling then you will waste heaps of time.