Many sellers might have the opinion that every customer is different and that some customers are just worse than the others.
This is absolutely not true.
Every customer at the fundamental level is the same.
They want something from you, and they will spend money on you.
This is the most fundamental quality of a customer.
Whether they want work done cheaply, or they don’t care much for the final result, in the end work must be done.
It is important to start from this base understanding of a customer so that we can shape the relationship later on.
Balance Of Power
All customers have a want to be fulfilled by you. That is your power.
Each customer offers money in exchange for that want. That is their power.
Now begins a power game.
You must always be the one with the most power, else you will be at the mercy of your customer.
How do you win the power game?
They key is to be proactive.
If you can stay one step ahead of your customer and consistently provide what they need without them thinking about it first you are winning.
Here are some ways to communicate your proactiveness:
- I know that you have a goal to get this ecommerce store up and running by winter sales so I also will be adding a winter collection for you.
- I know that your business serves customers across different geographic regions so I will be designing 3 different logo variations for each geographic location.
By being proactive you will be seen as an expert as you’re always one step ahead of them.
How do you lose the power game?
By constantly doing what you’re told.
Sounds strange?
It is, but by doing what you’re told you will just be another worker in their eyes.
Not an expert. No one tells an expert what to do, only worker execute orders.
‘But being proactive is too much work!’
Is seems like to much work at first, but once they see you as an expert, you are effectively in control of the relationship.
Once you are in control of the relationship, you get to decide when it ends.
This means no more work that goes outside the job scope. No more ‘change this for me please’.
Remember, the minute they tell you what to do means you are a worker in their eyes.
When you’re merely a worker you will be at your customer’s mercy.
With nice customers being at their mercy is survivable, but you will not survive being at the mercy of a bad spirited customer.
Worst case you end up losing your money, feeling pain, getting low reviews or even sued.
You must always serve the customer proactively.
Gauging The Customer
Imagine you own a restaurant, sometimes a customer will come in to your restaurant extremely hungry with the expectation of getting served up something fast and delicious, but sometimes a customer will come in with the expectation of a 5 course gastronomic experience.
You have to serve both customers differently.
This is where gauging the customer comes in.
If an extremely hungry customer comes in and you serve them a tiny appetiser and expect them to wait for the main course they will be angry.
How To Behave When Faced With Different Customers
Hungry customer
This type of customer just wants to get the job done. They do not need to be educated or handheld throughout the process.
Take charge of the situation. Spend more time before the order starts by asking goal related questions.
Once you understand their goal, get to work to achieve it for them without asking too many questions.
Example questions:
- What is your goal with my service
- What do you plan to do with this service once completed
Position yourself as an expert who knows what’s best for them.
The head chef will not ask the customer what do they think of one of the ingredients that they used.
They will just make the dish and ask for overall feedback later.
Full Course Customer
This is the customer who wants the full experience. They want to be educated. They want to have a good relationship with you.
They want to learn everything about the service you are providing them.
Over-communicating is key is this situation. Explain to them reasons you made certain decisions over the course of the service that will help them.
Example communications:
- I chose this color yellow as I find it goes well with the brand I’ve created for you.
- I added this sentence at the bottom to really hook your customers so that you can have more sales.
Everything that you say to them must have a positive impact on their psychology.
If you can do this they will leave you a good review.
In Summary
Customer relationships are not set in stone. You can always shape them for the better so that you can always get the 5 star.
Win the power game by providing value to them proactively.
