If you have been in business for more than one week, you have probably encountered a bad customer. Your definition of a bad customer might be an indecisive person or someone looking for a deal. Maybe you consider a customer who is slow to pay bills to be a bad customer. Or maybe your nightmare is the person who always orders at the last minute. Whatever your definition, you know exactly who fits the description.
The “Bad” Customer
We don’t always know what’s happening with people, so we should strive to treat even the most difficult customers with our best effort.
BY Fran Carville, CRM, CARCO AWARDS/CARCOAWARDS.COM
(Originally printed in the January/February 2023 issue of Insights.)
If you have been in business for more than one week, you have probably encountered a bad customer. Your definition of a bad customer might be an indecisive person or someone looking for a deal. Maybe you consider a customer who is slow to pay bills to be a bad customer. Or maybe your nightmare is the person who always orders at the last minute. Whatever your definition, you know exactly who fits the description.
A customer filling my definition of a bad customer visited our business a few months ago. It was my pleasure to greet her and find how we could best help her. The customer quickly returned my friendliness with arrogance. But we have all taken a rude customer and turned them into a loyal customer before, haven’t we?
However, this customer was different. After a couple of attempts to win her over, I was asked to “give her some space.” “Be happy to,” I thought. The 2-inch by 5-inch brass plate she was thinking about ordering was not going to make my retirement. As I prepared to check on the customer, I bit my tongue hard enough to make teeth marks before planting a smile on my face that I hoped look pleasant. My goal was to continue to be excited to assist her, no matter what.
And then, as I approached her in the middle of the showroom, she raised her voice to let me know she had not yet summoned me. Just as I felt my blood pressure rising to the point that my head was about to explode off of my shoulders, my bad customer burst into tears—big crocodile tears.
They were crying right in the middle of a busy store. Crying! Suddenly, my arrogant, mean customer was having a meltdown. My aggravation turned to confusion, mixed with a little fear, as other customers turned to see what was happening. Now what?
Thoughts of asking her to leave and never return crossed my mind. But reality ruled, and I silently recited our company’s pledge to give every single customer our very best, no matter what. Boy, oh boy, did I want to make an exception. Did her bizarre behavior really merit my best? Probably not.
But something I read in a Stephen Covey book years ago came to mind as I gave the customer a box of tissues and waited for this outburst to pass. Mr. Covey suggested that we never really know what is going on with others. As it turned out, this bad customer was not rude or arrogant. She was a recent widow, grieving for her husband and trying to hold it together. She just happened to be in my showroom on one of the worst days of her life.
The horrible mistake of being prejudiced about a customer was mine to own that day. I had my opinion about her behavior and quickly labeled her a “bad customer.” Rather than leaving my assumptions at the back door, I took her actions personally and labeled her as “bad.” Yikes.
We all have customers we like better than others. And being human, sometimes we judge a potential customer and make a snap decision about them. That’s OK—if those assumptions never get in the way of the service we offer. The bad thing about being prejudiced is that most times we don’t realize it.
Prejudices, much like customers, can come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, ethnic backgrounds, education levels, occupations, religions, political views and most other characteristics you can name. Most times a merchant does not recognize or believe that they may be prejudiced toward a customer. Consider these examples:
- Does your level of interest and your service commitment change based on your first opinion of a customer?
- Do you treat a corporate vice president as more important than
- a soccer mom?
- Do you shy away from customers that you feel are different from you?
- Do you ignore the corporate client’s secretary, assuming they have no power?
- Do you assume your customer shares your opinions on politics, religion or social issues?
There are endless examples of unrealized prejudices in business, but one thing is plain and simple: The cost of making judgements about customers will show up as dollars lost—not to mention the loss of potentially great customers.
Voltaire saw prejudice as a lack of reason. A customer is never wrong just because they are different or don’t fit a certain mold we want our perfect customers to fit. In any business, it is important to have a zero-tolerance policy regarding any type of labeling or judging. While it’s important to have a policy, it’s most important that everyone in your business understands the policy in practical terms. Unless everyone associated with your business truly believes this policy, it might not be worth the paper it is written on. As merchants, we must treat every consumer like a valued guest in our store. Easy to say, sometimes difficult to achieve.
A final note: My “bad customer” returned to our store recently. She brought a friend with her because the friend needed awards, and the “bad customer” told her how nice we were during her previous visit. Fancy that!
Fran Carville, CRM, is an Awards and Personalization Association past president, educational speaker, 2008 Speaker of the Year, a member of the Hall of Fame, and winner of an Award of Excellence from the APEX Awards for Publication Excellence. Fran and her husband, Tom Carville, CRM, own Carco Awards in Baton Rouge, LA.
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