You must have come across such people. Explaining to them that X or Y is literally impossible… Or that Z can easily be done by yourself and here's how… Or that M, L and P are not your area of work… Jthey don't like it!
They repeat their question. It's like you wouldn't have understood the first time... And basically, it's a big pain in your ass.
"They say that one good customer is better than 20 idiots. Maybe it's true?”
Such thoughts are running through your head.
What to do with idiot customers?
Well… I can share my experience.
I myself have encountered such people, served them, taken their money and left them happy. And I myself have been such an idiot.
A few facts:
- These people have real problems. Whether it's a boba, an old man, a toddler, or [[insert some other lame excuse not to listen to these people]], they're still human. And their problems are real.
- But maybe they don't know how to explain them. And this may simply be their problem - they have dyslexia, so they can't reply to your letters (that's why providing additional help by phone, video call or live is also useful), they have a fear of car service workers (maybe it's hard to imagine, but I once had one) , have problems with self-control or they simply do not understand what they want.
- As I mentioned: they may not understand what they want. And what is there to be surprised about? You also often scroll through the Facebook wall until you see something that catches your eye, but you don't know why you're sitting on Facebook for so long...
- But after all, your job is to understand problems in half a word. A good prostitute does not ask "how would you like to be here now?" She just satisfies and takes the money. The customer then comes a second time because he didn't even have to explain what he wanted!
- And that's why it's important not to underestimate our customers. Because when you underestimate or write something off, you don't listen to them anymore. The best way to ruin any relationship is to feel superior. The harder you try to force it, the more you push back. This also applies to family relationships.
- It's healthy to look into coaching, even if you're not a consultant. Basically, all coaching is just that - a package of tools to help you listen to someone else's problems.
- Every stupid customer = potential for you to earn. But no! The easiest way is to just turn around… Nope. It won't work for long. However, these customers will still encounter the shortcomings of your work, find other masters and stay with them. Don't be Karolis Šimkus.
- …What I mean is these people are people who DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY WANT TO BUY FROM YOU YET. Imagine if there were people who didn't know underwear existed? And then offer them? They would be thrilled and buy everything because the underwear is just amazing. (In my opinion.) This is a new space for your marketing, generating new ideas, testing the LEAN philosophy. Customers from nowhere.
- You just need to find these idiots and show them, tell them who you are and how wonderful your "new" invention is. However - news is not something that no one has heard of (it's impossible) - news is something that is new to your customer.
- Stupid customers become the best customers if you are their friend. It's harder than just writing it off or doing the job passive-aggressively. But if you put a little "put" into these settings, the results would be astounding. Those idiots will realize their mistakes, love you for your understanding, listening...
...Regarding listening, there were studies that investigated the relationship between the work of family doctors and patients. It turns out that patients who talked to family doctors for more than ~20 minutes, not even about diseases(!!!), recovered faster. They were simply convinced of the effectiveness of the treatment, because they felt listened to, they felt in good hands, they followed the doctor's instructions more precisely. Imagine how cool it would be if all your customers did exactly as you say?
A scammer wouldn't follow this advice because they don't need the customer to be happy and come back multiple times. Scammers have no patience, so they prefer to write off bad customers, cheat them, do bad work, take it for granted and milk it all. They have no longer term plan or perspective, so they will continue to treat their stupid customers as stupid, not human.
Idiot customers, no matter how hard you try, you probably won't avoid them. There will still be more or less ignorant buyers.
And the best thing we can do as professionals is learn to talk to jerks. Become their friends. Become their lovers. Help them sincerely.
It sounds strange in the background of business, but…
