Problems are a fact of life in business. It doesn't matter what you sell or to whom, it is inevitable that you will encounter problems from time-to-time.
However, how you approach these situations will determine your outcome.
Allow me to share an example...
My wife runs a secret shopper program for a client in a niche market. She has several shoppers who conduct visits and complete reports. This past weekend a relatively new shopper encountered a couple of problems and she emailed my wife to advise her of these problems and to tell her that reports were going to be late.
Not surprisingly, my wife was more than a bit frustrated. And rightly so. The agreement with our client clearly states that all reports are due within 24 hours and my wife makes this standard VERY clear with our shoppers.
She had given this shopper her cell phone number and instructions that clearly stated if the shopper encountered ANY problems to contact her immediately so the shopper could be given new instructions. Unfortunately, the shopper ignored these instructions and didn't bother to contact my wife until much later when it was too late to correct the situation.
It was obvious that this shopper was not solution oriented; she was problem focused.
Years ago I had the good fortune of working for a boss who was solution oriented. He rarely focused on the problem or spent time pointing fingers or assigning blame. Instead, he focused on finding a solution to the problem and implementing it as quickly as possible.
One of the best business lessons I learned from him was to come to him with a solution whenever I encountered a problem. In fact, the first words he expressed anytime anyone brought a problem to him were, "What is the best solution?" or "How do you plan to handle that?" or something similar.
Sales people often spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the problems they encounter. They gripe about lost deals, difficult customers, and aggressive competitors. However, if you focus on the problem instead of looking for a solution you lose valuable time and miss sales opportunities.
Instead of focusing on the problems you encounter in your business, concentrate on developing solutions. If you work for an organization, instead of approaching your boss with a problem and asking him for the solution, explain the situation and suggest a remedy.
Not only will you learn and grow, you will demonstrate that you are a valuable resource.