Customer Service Dialogue Preston Kern Types of Customers

Customer Service Dialogue Preston Kern

Types of Customers • • • Argumentative Impatient Leave-me-alone Irritable/Moody Insulting Complaining Domineering/Superior Suspicious Slow/Methodical Dishonest

Guidelines • Argumentative - Asking simple, polite questions with options keeps most situations under smooth control. • Impatient - Agreeing first on common points goes a long way in handling situations with difficult customers. • Leave-me-alone - Patience works wonders. Never press customers for sales or decisions. • Irritable/Moody - Do your job well. Be consistent in your positive behavior. You’ll have a natural, calming effect on customers and fellow employees. • Insulting - Go neutral. Serve customers promptly, and nonemotionally. You’ll feel an energizing power. And power, properly used, is a good thing.

Guidelines • Complaining - Understand respect what the customers are thinking. Your job is to help them overcome obstacles that prevent them from trusting you and your company. Keep in mind, also, that when you work for and represent a company, you are that company to your customer. • Domineering/Superior - Let customers have their say. But in the end, make sure that the right thing is done. • Suspicious - Explain and demonstrate good service as many times as you need to. Some customers just “get it” more slowly than others.

Guidelines • Slow/Methodical - Be patient with customers who need it. Mirror their methodical behavior. Help them along by not overwhelming them. They’ll come around when they trust your good intentions. • Dishonest - Don’t jump to quick conclusions. If you say no and your assistant manager says to accept the return, you’ll look bad in front of the customer. Remember that compromising and negotiating are part of normal procedure in serving customers.

Float-Rite Occurrence • As I was selling raffle tickets during the Fourth of July, I came in contact with many different people or “customers”. There was one particular lady that I remember the best and here is the story of the slip and slide girl.

Float-Rite Occurrence • Me: Hello, would you like to buy some 50/50 raffle tickets to help our high school wrestling program? • Lady: You wrestle? • Me: Yes I do. • Lady: Why don’t you and your friend go ahead and wrestle for me • Me: Well we can’t do that actually but I can sell you tickets if you’d like? • Lady: Hmm maybe. Will I win? • Me: I can’t say for sure that you’ll win, but you have a chance.

Float-Rite Occurrence • After discussing what the raffle was and how it works, one of her friends set up a slip’n’slide and it must’ve given her an idea because the following conversation got weird.

Float-Rite Occurrence • Me: So do you want to buy any tickets? • Lady: How about this. I’ll buy $50 worth of tickets and if I win, you and your friend will wrestle naked down my slip’n’slide. Deal?

Conclusion • So in my head, I thought there’s no way she can win because we’ve sold tons so I agreed to it because I’d also never see her again. She actually did buy 50 dollars worth and we were on our way. I later found out a few days later that a lady with a slip’n’slide had won the raffle so it was pretty funny. Thinking back on it now, she was a Suspicious customer because of all the questions she asked at the beginning.

The End Thank you for listening