If you've ever had a job that required you to engage in one-on-one interaction with others, then you're likely to have a pretty good understanding of the many different types of people that exist in the world. And though you were lucky enough to come across some customers who made complete 100% sense to you, there were also instances where some customers managed to push you out of your comfort zone just a bit. This Odyssey article discusses 7 of those types of customers, as well as provides some helpful suggestions for how you can go about handling them from now on.
1. The customer who thinks they're the only one in the room in need of assistance.
Description: This is the customer who, although you're obviously busy assisting someone else, proceeds to do everything they can to get you to stop what you're doing immediately in order to come and help them instead.
Solution:The best approach you can take would be to calmly remind them that you are currently in the process of assisting someone else, but will make sure to assist them as soon as possible. They may not like hearing that from you, but you can't help the fact that you were already in the middle of assisting someone else before they decided to ask for your help. You could also try to look around to see if one of your coworkers is available to assist them, and then make sure they follow through with doing so.
2. The customer who can easily talk to you for hours on end without hesitation.
Description: These customers will literally tell you everything there is to know about life and how they're feeling, regardless of the fact that you have other customers to assist.
Solution: Be considerate enough to listen to them for as long as you possibly can without testing the patience of your other customers. However, don't be afraid to kindly exit out of the conversation if necessary. Simply let them know that you really enjoyed talking with them, but need to assist someone else at the moment.
3. The customer who tries to stare deeply into your soul in order to get what they want ASAP.
Description: This is the customer who literally tries to stare you down whenever they're in the process of either being assisted or waiting to be assisted. They're likely to have already grown very impatient and refuse to wait a second longer for your help.
Solution: Learning how to properly cope with this type customer is going to take quite a bit of practice, but the most important words you can remind yourself of are:
"DON'T look them in the eye."
Reminding yourself of this will allow you to keep your priorities straight so that you can make sure to assist everyone fairly without feeling too overwhelmed.
4. The overly dramatic customer who has a reputation for coming in and complaining about the simplest things (even if there's nothing to complain about).
Description: This is the customer who always has the tendency to come into your place of work, walk out, and then complain to corporate about something as simple as the wall being a shade of color they didn't like. They're also very likely to initiate an argument with you in order to attempt to make the atmosphere more lively. In that case, I suppose we can't blame them entirely, right?
Solution: Get to know them REALLY well. Learn exactly what they like and what they don't like, and do whatever it takes to make (and keep) them happy whenever you know they're present.
5. The customer who asks you to throw away their trash.
Description: This is the customer who seems to think that you're their own personal trashcan. Even if there are actual garbage cans nearby, they'll proceed to give you their trash to throw away for them.
Solution: Depending on how gross the trash actually is, you can either be kind enough to throw it away for them, or you can direct them to the nearest trashcan to have them throw it away themselves.
6. The customer who just wants to keep arguing with you.
Description: This customer will likely be the most difficult one to cope with out of all of the types of customers on this list. Unfortunately, this type of customer will proceed to do or say everything that they possibly can to frustrate you enough to the point where you won't even hesitate to lose your patience with them. And guess what? If you do decide to respond to them with hostility, you're likely to find yourself in your manager's office a few minutes later and being told the words "You're fired."
Solution: DO NOT respond with hostility, as this will only make the customer even more inclined to argue with and provoke you even more.Instead, kill their negative attitude with a combination of kindness and professionalism. Apologize to them (and mean it) even if you didn't do anything wrong in the first place. Eventually, they'll either end up leaving or just decide to stop arguing with you altogether. In extreme cases, however, don't be afraid to seek out your manager.
7. The customer who asks questions they should already know the answer to.
Description: This is the customer who will literally see crayons in front of them and proceed to ask you if those crayons actually exist. Of course, that's only one example, but you get the idea.
Solution: Don't appear to be annoyed at all by their questions. Instead, help them out and be genuine about it. Maybe they really don't see the crayons, or just felt obligated to ask if you had any rather than choose to just take them from you out of the blue.
Despite the fact that these 7 types of customers have a tendency to get under your skin sometimes, it's important to realize that their presence in your life is what has allowed you to gain a better understanding of the kinds of people around you, as well as how you can go about interacting with them professionally and effectively from now on.
You've got to admit, each one of them makes your job just a bit more interesting, don't they?