How do you deal with a customer who is a fool?

I’m going to submit this with very little commentary. Maybe it’s the approach of Easter, but I think there is some real wisdom in the Bible for customer situations.

Yitzilitt, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gustave Doré: King Solomon (1866, colorized–quite possible that this is not what he looked like)

A bit of background to help make sense of the verses I’m sharing:

The book of Proverbs is full of “aphorisms,” short sayings that make sweeping statements about how the world works. They perfectly crafted little jewels meant to be studied from every facet. You are to spend much time in meditation on each sentence.

And here are two such sentences from wise King Solomon, purposely put back-to-back:

Answer not a fool according to his folly,
    lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Proverbs 26:4-5

Answer not a fool.

Then again, do answer him.

Which is it?

Have you ever had a customer who absolutely did not get it? And seemed to refuse to get it?

Then again, have you ever had a customer who did not get it … but you knew if you could get them to understand your product, they would change their mind?

You are better served by asking questions than by telling what you know.

What we are talking about here is called discernment: the ability to judge well. It is one of the reasons Hip Socket encourages the classical liberal arts in its approach to employee development.

How do you know which approach to take? Is it time to “fire a customer?” Or is it time to convince him he is wrong?

All I know is this: Before you decide whether to answer a question, you can ask them more questions.

You are better served by asking questions than by telling what you know.

When you ask a question, the burden of proof is on the other person, not on you. It gives you time and information to better understand the customer. To know how to approach him.

Here are two questions I have loved since I discovered them around 2003:

  1. What do you mean by [whatever word or phrase the customer used in an objection]?
  2. How did you arrive at that conclusion?

Depending on their answers, you might even decide you want to argue with the customer.

But sometimes you just need to let a fool be a fool.