question- this is a situation re- write in your own word this answer with your own example.

Description of the Situation

I worked as a sales and marketing associate. A new client contacted me and asked for product samples and inquired whether we can make a new product according to her specifications. I had to talk with my manager to arrange for a test run, so I could send my new client the product samples. This situation is based on a discussion whether to develop a new product for a client or sell her the products that we currently have. I needed to have a discussion with my manager on how to proceed with this client.

Reconstructed Dialogue

Thoughts and Feelings

Joe (Me): Hi, I have a customer interested in making a new product with a specific specification and she's interested in obtaining some product samples. Can we do a test run for her? My manager: We can't do that right now. Just tell her no. Joe: Why not? My manager: It's too expensive to do a test run if she only wants the product samples. Joe: I think that if we can make a new product that would suit her needs, she would likely become a long-term customer. My manager: We have so many customers that ask us to make new products, but they don't end up buying anything. If you want to sell her our products, just send her the samples that we currently have. Joe: Ok, but I don't think it's going to encourage her to buy our products.

I was feeling good that I have a new customer interested in our products. I can work with her to develop new products that would suit her needs and she would be my long-term customer. Maybe it's not good that we turn her down right away. How should I proceed with this? So, that's why. He could have told me that at the beginning. I hope that I don't waste my time sending her our stock product samples and she doesn't even buy anything.

Analysis of the Situation

I tried using ladder of inference to analyze the situation and I have the following result:

Directly Observable Data

Observe and Select Data: I focus on, "Just tell her no." Ignore, "We can't do it right now. It's too expensive to do a test run."

Categorize and Attach Meaning to This Data: I think that my manager might not want me to succeed at my job by not collaborating with the new client to the test run, or he doesn't want to work with a new client.

Drawing Inferences/Casually Explain: I assume that he probably has too much work already and he doesn't want to spend the time helping me work with a new client.

Take Action: I decide to end the conservation and proceed with my other assignments.

By using ladder of inference, it helps me understand the situation better, but it doesn't help me solve my problem. I realized that throughout the conversation, I was focused on about being turned down from the start. I think that the situation could have gone better by applying the Advocacy-Inquiry tool. Here's my application of Advocacy-Inquiry tool:

My manager: We can't do that right now. Just tell her no.

Joe (Me): Why not?Before turning her down, can you give me a specific reason that I should tell my customer?

My manager: It's too expensive to do a test run if she only wants the product samples.

Joe (Me): I think that if we proceed with a test run and provide her with the samples that she requested, we might be able to gain another long-term customer. What would be your suggestion on how to deal with this customer?

My manager: We have so many customers that ask us to make new products, but they don't end up buying anything. If you want to sell her our products, just send her the samples that we currently have.

Joe (Me): I understand your point of view. Could you give me a suggestion on what to say to my customer, and which of our products I might suggest instead of a customization? This way, if we have customers with a similar request in the future, I would be able to respond to them in a timely manner.

I think that advocacy-inquiry tool would help me improve the situation. I would be able to gain an insight on our company's constraints, in order to give my customer a better reason for turning down her request. Asking for suggestions would give me more confidence on how to handle the discussion with my customer. Furthermore, it would also give me a better understanding on my company work process of handling a customer in this type of situation. If a similar situation would occur in the future, I would be able to handle my task independently.

When considering my Big Five Personality Test results, I have a low score on neuroticism, a neutral score on extraversion, and a high score on conscientiousness. I was very calm during the situation and I did not harbor negative feelings. However, at that moment, I strongly felt that I needed to accomplish this task by sending the new client product samples according to the specifications that she had requested. Since I have high score on openness to experience and agreeableness, I was more willing to listen to my manager and solve the problem collaboratively, instead of starting an argument and insisting that we should do a test run. At the end, I reluctantly agreed to send the product sample that we already have to avoid a conflict with my manager, exhibiting my high agreeableness.

Plan of Action

1. Use the Ladder of Inference to truly understand my feelings of the situation. I think that if I understand my feelings better in that situation, I would be able to cope with being declined by my manager to pursue a new opportunity and the feeling of disappointment that I had to let down my customer because I couldn't provide the service.
2. Use the Advocacy-Inquiry tool to improve my communication skills in a follow up discussion with my manager. After making an analysis of my emotions, using the advocacy-inquiry tool would enable me to ask more thoughtful questions to solve this issue with my manager and come up with better ways to improve my own advocacy and overall communication skills.
3. Use negotiation and persuasion skills to convince my manager that customization for customers is worth the time and resources. I need to contact my customer to obtain more details of product specifications, as well as general market information. Then, I hopefully will be able to convince my manager to continue my project with this customer by providing the information that my manager would need to make his final decision.

Description of Action That I Took

Following my plan of action, I was able to ask more thoughtful questions and handle the situation in a calm manner. I contacted my customer to inquire of her frequent need for my product and reported back to my manager. After reporting back to my manager, I was able to gain a deeper understanding on the company's constraints, which were unknown to me at the time of my client's initial contact. The company was having trouble operating machinery because it was missing an important spare part. I also gained an insight into a marketing strategy that the company was employing, in which my manager suggested that we should focus on targeting a group of customers that share the same needs or wants. In other words, we shouldn't make a product that we can only sell to just one customer.

Reflections

After this exercise, I feel that it's important to always be conscious of my own emotions. I now understand that I couldn't change how my manager and my customer would react. I can only change my own way of thinking. By developing a better understanding of my own feelings through the Ladder of Inference, I was able to make a more careful decision to further handle the situation in a peaceful and professional manner. Using the advocacy-inquiry tool, I was able to ask more thoughtful questions that helped me gain a better understanding of the situation and enabled me to learn new information for my job, such as our company's constraints and new marketing strategies. Lastly, I had the opportunity to practice negotiation and persuasion skills, which are very useful in any professional setting!Description of the Situation

I worked as a sales and marketing associate. A new client contacted me and asked for product samples and inquired whether we can make a new product according to her specifications. I had to talk with my manager to arrange for a test run, so I could send my new client the product samples. This situation is based on a discussion whether to develop a new product for a client or sell her the products that we currently have. I needed to have a discussion with my manager on how to proceed with this client.

Reconstructed Dialogue

Thoughts and Feelings

Joe (Me): Hi, I have a customer interested in making a new product with a specific specification and she's interested in obtaining some product samples. Can we do a test run for her? My manager: We can't do that right now. Just tell her no. Joe: Why not? My manager: It's too expensive to do a test run if she only wants the product samples. Joe: I think that if we can make a new product that would suit her needs, she would likely become a long-term customer. My manager: We have so many customers that ask us to make new products, but they don't end up buying anything. If you want to sell her our products, just send her the samples that we currently have. Joe: Ok, but I don't think it's going to encourage her to buy our products.

I was feeling good that I have a new customer interested in our products. I can work with her to develop new products that would suit her needs and she would be my long-term customer. Maybe it's not good that we turn her down right away. How should I proceed with this? So, that's why. He could have told me that at the beginning. I hope that I don't waste my time sending her our stock product samples and she doesn't even buy anything.

Analysis of the Situation

I tried using ladder of inference to analyze the situation and I have the following result:

Directly Observable Data

Observe and Select Data: I focus on, "Just tell her no." Ignore, "We can't do it right now. It's too expensive to do a test run."

Categorize and Attach Meaning to This Data: I think that my manager might not want me to succeed at my job by not collaborating with the new client to the test run, or he doesn't want to work with a new client.

Drawing Inferences/Casually Explain: I assume that he probably has too much work already and he doesn't want to spend the time helping me work with a new client.

Take Action: I decide to end the conservation and proceed with my other assignments.

By using ladder of inference, it helps me understand the situation better, but it doesn't help me solve my problem. I realized that throughout the conversation, I was focused on about being turned down from the start. I think that the situation could have gone better by applying the Advocacy-Inquiry tool. Here's my application of Advocacy-Inquiry tool:

My manager: We can't do that right now. Just tell her no.

Joe (Me): Why not?Before turning her down, can you give me a specific reason that I should tell my customer?

My manager: It's too expensive to do a test run if she only wants the product samples.

Joe (Me): I think that if we proceed with a test run and provide her with the samples that she requested, we might be able to gain another long-term customer. What would be your suggestion on how to deal with this customer?

My manager: We have so many customers that ask us to make new products, but they don't end up buying anything. If you want to sell her our products, just send her the samples that we currently have.

Joe (Me): I understand your point of view. Could you give me a suggestion on what to say to my customer, and which of our products I might suggest instead of a customization? This way, if we have customers with a similar request in the future, I would be able to respond to them in a timely manner.

I think that advocacy-inquiry tool would help me improve the situation. I would be able to gain an insight on our company's constraints, in order to give my customer a better reason for turning down her request. Asking for suggestions would give me more confidence on how to handle the discussion with my customer. Furthermore, it would also give me a better understanding on my company work process of handling a customer in this type of situation. If a similar situation would occur in the future, I would be able to handle my task independently.

When considering my Big Five Personality Test results, I have a low score on neuroticism, a neutral score on extraversion, and a high score on conscientiousness. I was very calm during the situation and I did not harbor negative feelings. However, at that moment, I strongly felt that I needed to accomplish this task by sending the new client product samples according to the specifications that she had requested. Since I have high score on openness to experience and agreeableness, I was more willing to listen to my manager and solve the problem collaboratively, instead of starting an argument and insisting that we should do a test run. At the end, I reluctantly agreed to send the product sample that we already have to avoid a conflict with my manager, exhibiting my high agreeableness.

Plan of Action

1. Use the Ladder of Inference to truly understand my feelings of the situation. I think that if I understand my feelings better in that situation, I would be able to cope with being declined by my manager to pursue a new opportunity and the feeling of disappointment that I had to let down my customer because I couldn't provide the service.
2. Use the Advocacy-Inquiry tool to improve my communication skills in a follow up discussion with my manager. After making an analysis of my emotions, using the advocacy-inquiry tool would enable me to ask more thoughtful questions to solve this issue with my manager and come up with better ways to improve my own advocacy and overall communication skills.
3. Use negotiation and persuasion skills to convince my manager that customization for customers is worth the time and resources. I need to contact my customer to obtain more details of product specifications, as well as general market information. Then, I hopefully will be able to convince my manager to continue my project with this customer by providing the information that my manager would need to make his final decision.

Description of Action That I Took

Following my plan of action, I was able to ask more thoughtful questions and handle the situation in a calm manner. I contacted my customer to inquire of her frequent need for my product and reported back to my manager. After reporting back to my manager, I was able to gain a deeper understanding on the company's constraints, which were unknown to me at the time of my client's initial contact. The company was having trouble operating machinery because it was missing an important spare part. I also gained an insight into a marketing strategy that the company was employing, in which my manager suggested that we should focus on targeting a group of customers that share the same needs or wants. In other words, we shouldn't make a product that we can only sell to just one customer.

Reflections

After this exercise, I feel that it's important to always be conscious of my own emotions. I now understand that I couldn't change how my manager and my customer would react. I can only change my own way of thinking. By developing a better understanding of my own feelings through the Ladder of Inference, I was able to make a more careful decision to further handle the situation in a peaceful and professional manner. Using the advocacy-inquiry tool, I was able to ask more thoughtful questions that helped me gain a better understanding of the situation and enabled me to learn new information for my job, such as our company's constraints and new marketing strategies. Lastly, I had the opportunity to practice negotiation and persuasion skills, which are very useful in any professional setting!